History Film / InlandEmpire

''Inland Empire'' is a experimental thriller film from 2006, written and directed by Creator/DavidLynch.

* MysticalHollywood: The plot revolves around a cursed Hollywood movie and the surreal events surrounding it.

* NoPlotNoProblem: This movie was produced without a script. Very frequently Lynch would just show up on the set and gave people their lines, clearly having written them no more than a few hours before. When people would ask him what the film was supposed to be about he would respond with a cryptic poem. The general consensus is that [[spoiler: there is no plot]].

* TheProductionCurse: InUniverse. ''On High in Blue Tomorrows'' is a remake of a film that was never completed because the leads were murdered, leading to rumors that the whole project is cursed. As Nikki finds out by immersing herself more and more in the role of Sue, the curse turns out to be very real, being tied to The Phantom and The Lost Girl. By destroying The Phantom and breaking the curse, Nikki manages to free The Lost Girl from the hotel room she's trapped in.

* TheProductionCurse: InUniverse. ''On High in Blue Tomorrows'' is a remake of a film that was never completed because the leads were murdered, leading to rumors that the whole project is cursed. As Nikki finds out by immersing herself more and more in the role of Sue, the curse turns out to be very real, being tied to The Phantom and The Lost Girl.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: an example:

* CreatorCameo: The lighting technician Kingsly was yelling at is the voice of Creator/DavidLynch.

** Though there isn't a coherent script, whether there [[spoiler: isn't a plot]] is questionable and not as relevant as one would expect. It's inarguable that there's several recurring motifs and characters, though. See WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants.

* NothingIsScarier: This film will give you nightmares just from buildup alone. You see it's runtime? About two-thirds of that is soul-crushing buildup and atmosphere.

** Finally, there are similarities to ''Anime/PerfectBlue''. [[spoiler:Both films have rapid dreamlike scene shifts , some of which are fakeouts involving a ShowWithinAShow and share the same theme of HorribleHollywood. Both have killers stalking the main protagonists, and the protagonists themselves are very similar as they are both actresses undergoing identity crises.]]

* ShoutOut: To ''Film/SunsetBoulevard'', one of Lynch's favorite films.

** Finally, there are similarities to ''Anime/PerfectBlue''.

Possibly Creator/DavidLynch's most incomprehensible and terrifying film since ''Film/{{Eraserhead}}''. Its production was unusual: Lynch shot the film in bits and pieces, without a complete screenplay. He would simply hand the actors new pages each day. When asked what it was about, Lynch ([[ShrugOfGod who never explains his films]]) simply quoted from the Aitareya Upanishad: "We are like the spider. We weave our life and then move along in it. We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream. This is true for the entire universe."

* DoubleMeaningTitle: The film takes place at Hollywood but borrows its title from an actual Southern California residential area, which itself is not too far from Hollywood, California. In addition, Hollywood is known as the largest film industry, making it an empire of sorts.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: The film takes place at Hollywood, but the title is a reference to an actual Southern California residential area, which itself is not too far from Hollywood, California. In addition, Hollywood is known as the largest film industry, making it an empire of sorts.

* AllJustADream: A possibility if one goes with what Lynch has to say about the movie.

* AxCrazy: Nikki's husband [[spoiler: Nikki/Susan herself begins to show shades of this late in the film.]]

* FilmNoir: Parts of the film mimic the genre, especially since the beginning foreshadows the murder of the two leads with a screwdriver.

---> '''Nikki''': Damn! This sounds like dialogue from our script!

** It is one to ''Film/MulhollandDrive'' and ''Film/LostHighway'', David Lynch's previous films. Like the aforementioned films, ''Inland Empire'' [[spoiler:has the protagonist switch between multiple identities while exploring an altered environment that is heavily implied to be AllJustADream. However, it is somewhat subverted as while the protagonists in the aforementioned films willingly adapt different identities and indulge in personal fantasies to avoid the harshness of reality, the protagonist of ''Inland Empire'' is forced into her new identity and is trying to escape a nightmarish DreamSequence.]]
** It also is one to ''Film/Eraserhead'', another David Lynch film, in that both films have heavier focus on the SurrealHorror element.

* LeFilmArtistique.
* FilmNoir: parts of the film mimic the genre, especially scenes of a private investigator.
* GainaxEnding: Wiki/TheOtherWiki's description of the ending: "The concluding scene of the film takes place in Nikki's house, where she sits with many other people, among them Creator/LauraElenaHarring, Creator/NastassjaKinski and Creator/BenHarper. A one-legged woman who was mentioned in Sue's monologue looks around and says, 'Sweet!' Niko, the Japanese girl with a blonde wig and a monkey, is also present. The end credits roll over a group of women dancing and lip-synching to Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' while a lumberjack saws a log to the beat." So... yeah.

* HairRaisingHare: the ShowWithinAShow ''Rabbits''.

* MagicRealism

* ShowWithinAShow: The three rabbits sitcom [[spoiler: Susan's story is zig zagged like a motherfucker.]]
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/MulhollandDrive'', and ''Film/{{Eraserhead}}''
** Also, there are similarities to ''Anime/PerfectBlue''.

* MindScrew: ''And '''HOW!''''' It's ''[[SerialEscalation above and beyond [=Eraserhead=]]]''

* DarkIsNotEvil: Many interpretations of the film indicate that the creepy rabbit people and the strange women that appears at the beginning of the film are actually trying to help the Lost Girl... But being a film of David Lynch you never know.
* DreamSequence: It's possible the nearly entire thing is inside Nikki's ([[MindScrew or Sue's]]) head.

* NightmareFace: Rife with UncannyValley.([[spoiler:Immediately followed by another one that looks like a fetus bleeding from the mouth.]]) The rest of the film does this to several characters with lighting tricks.

* SelfParody: Many have suggested that this film has elements of SelfParody to it. Given that the film is completely [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible messed up]] it would be hard to separate parodying elements from others, but some moments do seem ''ridiculously'' Lynchian, such as the ''Locomotion'' scene. This of course doesn't diminish the film being terrifying [[NothingIsScarier beyond]] [[MindScrew all reason.]]

** The Phantom standing around with a lightblub in his mouth. Nikki walks up to him, gets scared, grabs a screwdriver, and runs away.

* GainaxEnding: Wiki/TheOtherWiki's description of the ending: "The concluding scene of the film takes place in Nikki's house, where she sits with many other people, among them Creator/LauraElenaHarring, Nastassja Kinski and Ben Harper. A one-legged woman who was mentioned in Sue's monologue looks around and says, 'Sweet!' Niko, the Japanese girl with a blonde wig and a monkey, is also present. The end credits roll over a group of women dancing and lip-synching to Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' while a lumberjack saws a log to the beat." So... yeah.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Many interpretations of the film indicate that the creepy rabbit people and the strange women that appears at the beginning of the film are actually trying to help the Lost Girl...But being a film of David Lynch you never know.

** The Barbecue scene....just....what?

--> '''Neighbor''': Is there a...murder...in your film? \\

* GainaxEnding: Wiki/TheOtherWiki's description of the ending: "The concluding scene of the film takes place in Nikki's house, where she sits with many other people, among them Creator/LauraElenaHarring, Nastassja Kinski and Ben Harper. A one-legged woman who was mentioned in Sue's monologue looks around and says, 'Sweet!' Niko, the Japanese girl with a blonde wig and a monkey, is also present. The end credits roll over a group of women dancing and lip-synching to Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' while a lumberjack saws a log to the beat." So...yeah.
** This trope is debatable though, considering that the rest of the movie is no less strange.

* DreamSequence: It's possible the nearly entire thing is inside Nikki's head.

* GainaxEnding: TheOtherWiki's description of the ending: "The concluding scene of the film takes place in Nikki's house, where she sits with many other people, among them Creator/LauraElenaHarring, Nastassja Kinski and Ben Harper. A one-legged woman who was mentioned in Sue's monologue looks around and says, 'Sweet!' Niko, the Japanese girl with a blonde wig and a monkey, is also present. The end credits roll over a group of women dancing and lip-synching to Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' while a lumberjack saws a log to the beat." So...yeah.

* LeFilmArtistique.

* CreatorCameo: The lighting technician Kingsly was yelling at is the voice of DavidLynch.

** DavidLynch wrote it as he went, without knowing where he was going with it to see what would happen. As in, he pretty much let his subconscious direct a movie. Naturally, the result is probably the closest a movie will ever come to emulating a dream.

In Poland, a prostitute and her customer (their faces blurred) talk in a hotel room. In the same room years later, a woman cries and watches a sitcom starring three rabbits. An actress, Nikki Grace, in Los Angeles gets a visit from her neighbor and the next day gets the part in a movie, ''On High In Blue Tomorrows'', which turns out to be a remake of a Polish film based on a Polish folk tale ''47'' where the leads were murdered. Nine prostitutes lounge around a house. There's a murder, a mystery, and a woman in trouble.