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David Lynch's world in cinema is synonymous with fear, often invoked through uncanniness, surrealism, and dreams. Much like the word 'Kafkaesque', cinephiles have adopted the word 'Lynchian' to describe the uncanny atmosphere of his works.
From Eraserhead to Inland Empire, Lynch's creations have a distinct cinematic style, a trademark that sets him apart from other directors. His objects of fascination, although varying, usually include: peculiar characters, paradoxical relationships within realities and fantasies, grotesque settings, and mysteries within suburban/small towns. One can also distinctly distinguish how he portrays violence.
If you want to watch David Lynch-like films but not directed by him, here is a list for you. This article lists 10 films that David Lynch did not direct but are of the same unconventional and surreal nature.
Perfect Blue (1997) – Satoshi Kon
Where to watch: Netflix and Apple TV
Perfect Blue is an animated thriller that follows the life of a pop singer named Mima, as she is motivated to give up her singing career and become an actress by her managers. As she transitions into acting, strange things start to happen in her once-beautiful life.
Thus, her mental state starts to deteriorate, and she starts to doubt her own identity, blurring the distinction between reality/dreams and sanity/insanity.
Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) – Shinya Tsukamoto
Where to watch: Apple TV
A surrealist masterpiece, Tetsuo is the story of a man whose body slowly starts to grow iron, transforming him into a “machine-man”. Iron wires emerge out of his body, screws grow, as he gets involved in scary experiments with his body.
Grainy and black and white, the film is extremely grotesque and has a distorted and metallic soundtrack, a reminder of Lynchian atmosphere, fused with Buñuel.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) – Yorgos Lanthimos
Where to watch: Prime Video
The film revolves around a teen who enters the life of a famous doctor and his family. Things turn unexpected, slowly but steadily. Although the boy seems gentle at first, he carries an eeriness of something unknown. And, it turns out that he is concealing something weird and evil.
In Yorgos Lanthimos' fashion, words take precedence. The dialogues in the film are spoken in a monotone, often interpreted as cold and emotionless, almost like robots talking. The surreal nature of the film reminds the viewer of Lynch.
Donnie Darko (2001) – Richard Kelly
Where to watch: Prime Video
The film follows a teenage boy named Donnie who envisions a giant rabbit that orders him to carry out a series of felonies. The film, although seemingly normal at the beginning, gradually proceeds to make unexpected choices.
Extremely Lynchian in nature, the film is set in a familiar-yet-not city, where the viewer is unable to pinpoint exactly what is wrong. To further add to the peculiarity, dreams and reality intermix with teenage angst as Donnie is manipulated.
Being John Malkovich (1999) – Spike Jonze
Where to watch: Prime Video
Jonze's debut feature, and adapted for screen by Charlie Kaufman Being John Malkovich, revolves around a puppet artist named Craig who suddenly finds a secret door behind his office one day. He comes to know that he has the ability to enter the mind of a character named John Malkovich.
Then, the game begins. The audience witnesses the slow process of mind control, identity loss, and a series of concurrent peculiar events in the film. When everyone turns into Malkovich, the whole thing becomes a chaotic nightmare, replicating the strange atmosphere of a David Lynch film.
Enemy (2013) – Denis Villeneuve
Where to watch: Prime Video
A college professor suddenly discovers a man who looks exactly like him. It begins with fear, progresses into suspicion, and finally, a mental breakdown. The city is shrouded in fog, everything is smoky and scary.
Dipped in intrigue and symbolism, Villeneuve's Enemy begs the viewer for an interpretation as identities and realities are strategically blurred.
Come True (2020) – Anthony Scott Burns
Where to watch: Prime Video
The film revolves around a teenage girl who takes part in a sleep study to escape her nightmares, but her dreams gradually merge with reality. Often described as being inspired by Cronenberg and Lynch, the visuals of Burns' Come True teeter between nightmarish and stunning.
The dreamscapes are gray, shadowy, and unsettling, much like a David Lynch film.
The Reflecting Skin (1990) – Philip Ridley
Where to watch: Prime Video
In Ridley's The Reflecting Skin, we see the world around us through the eyes of a small-town child, set in America. Like a child's imagination, surroundings are filled with sunshine, but death, sin, and fear lurk within.
With Ridley's background in painting, each frame of this film is mesmerising. As the film gradually drifts away from reality, it combines horror and vampiricism, thematically reminding the viewer of Lynch turning the American dream into a nightmare.
Holy Motors (2012) – Leos Carax
Where to watch: Prime Video
In this film, a man takes on different guises over a day—once a beggar, once a father, once an artist. Each scene is a dream.
This film, suspended between reality and acting, is like Lynch's Inland Empire. Even if you don't understand the story, the experience remains in your memory.
Pi (1998) – Darren Aronofsky
Where to watch: Prime Video
This bizarre narrative revolves around the life of a mathematician who finds a secret in the number Pi, which connects the world of numbers to human reality. As he proceeds to search further, he reels himself into losing his sanity while simultaneously overstressing about the implications.
Monochromatic and grainy, much like Lynch's Eraserhead, Aronofsky's Pi is brilliantly chaotic and surreal. Another aspect that makes this film Lynchian is the use of sound as well as the disturbing, yet unforgettable ending.
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Ultimately, these films leave us with a singular question: Were the events in the film real? Or just a deception of our own minds?
Lynch's cinema, much like the films listed above, takes the viewers on a reflective voyage filled with questions in a dreamy yet, uncanny setting. Is it reality, or fantasy?
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