Amazon Prime viewers will be pleased to learn that a classic thriller has landed on the streaming platform. Mulholland Drive is a 2001 surrealist neo-noir mystery art film written and directed by David Lynch; who describes the film as “a love story in the city of dreams”. It stars Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, and Justin Theroux.
The film’s synopsis reads: “A dark-haired woman (Harring) is left amnesiac after a car crash. She wanders the streets of Los Angeles in a daze before taking refuge in an apartment. There she is discovered by Betty (Watts), a wholesome Midwestern blonde who has come to the City of Angels seeking fame as an actress. Together, the two attempt to solve the mystery of Rita’s true identity. The story is set in a dream-like Los Angeles, spoilt neither by traffic jams nor smog.”
The New York Times place Mulholland Drive at number two in its ranking of the “100 Best Movies of the 21st Century”.
It said: “David Lynch’s perverse fairy tale tracks the downward spiral of a bright-eyed young actress, Betty — a revelatory Naomi Watts in a career-defining performance — who stumbles into a dangerous, labyrinthine mystery shortly after arriving in Los Angeles. Filled with doubles, this is one of Lynch’s bleakest and most terrifying films, and among his most emotionally devastating. It’s also one of the great movies about Hollywood, a dark mirror world where dreams turn into nightmares, which means that it’s one of Lynch’s most autobiographical works, too.”
On the film, actor Brian Cox said: “It’s a very glossy film, but it hides all this real uncertainty. And it’s a kind of ruthless film as well, because David Lynch has that view of humanity, which is a little critical, shall we say.”
Fans too have hailed the film as both a “masterpiece” and the “greatest film of the century”. One audience reviewer wrote on Rotten Tomatoes: “In the quarter century since it was released, this great noir/mystery has only grown in stature to become what is widely considered among the great movies of the 21st century. What’s fascinating to me is that after a few viewings, it makes perfect sense! At least it does now! Lynch printed ten clues to this movie’s mystery. I recommend looking them over before and after you see it. You’ll be glad you did!”
Mulholland Drive is available to watch now on the streaming platform Amazon Prime.
