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* NeverSayThatAgain: Diane demands this from Camilla during the couch scene.
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* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Even in a film as random as this, the man behind Winkie's scene stands out as pretty unrelated to everything else.
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BLAM
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* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Even in a film as random as this, the man behind Winkie's scene stands out as pretty unrelated to everything else.
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Mismatched Eyes is now disambiguation page. Please check to see if this example fits one of the tropes under Mismatched Eyes and re-add with context explaining why it fits the new trope.
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Mismatched Eyes is now disambiguation page. Please check to see if this example fits one of the tropes under Mismatched Eyes and re-add with context explaining why it fits the new trope.
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* MismatchedEyes: Joe, in the first part, is having one blue and one brown eye.
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* GratuitousSpanish: Cookie, the hotel manager, throwing in some Spanish vocabulary.
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* AreYouSureYouWantToDoThat: Joe during the point-of-no-return scene at Winkies.
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* ConcealmentEqualsCover: Comically averted when Joe accidental pulls the trigger on Ed's gun and the bullets passes through the wall to hit the fat lady in the next room.
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** If you're still skeptical as to whether or not that was intentional, just look at her audition scene halfway through the film. Not only does her character act well in the scene, but ''Naomi Watts '''acts''' acting well.'' Not too many actresses that can do that.
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[[quoteright:339:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mulholland_drive_9767.jpg]]]
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[[quoteright:339:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mulholland_drive_9767.jpg]]]jpg]]
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[[quoteright:339:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NaomiLaura.jpg]]org/pmwiki/pub/images/mulholland_drive_9767.jpg]]]
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'''''Mulholland Dr.''''' is a 2001 drama/mystery MindScrew directed by mind screw king DavidLynch that helped launch the career of NaomiWatts. The movie received generally positive reviews. At the end of the 2000s it has been called one of the best films of the decade by quite a few critics and viewers.
The positive critical reaction even included a four-star rave review from RogerEbert who, with the exception of ''Film/TheStraightStory'', had hated most of Lynch's films. Previously, Lynch had celebrated the "two thumbs down" from Siskel and Ebert for ''LostHighway''.
The positive critical reaction even included a four-star rave review from RogerEbert who, with the exception of ''Film/TheStraightStory'', had hated most of Lynch's films. Previously, Lynch had celebrated the "two thumbs down" from Siskel and Ebert for ''LostHighway''.
to:
'''''Mulholland Dr.''''' is a 2001 drama/mystery MindScrew directed by mind screw king DavidLynch Creator/DavidLynch that helped launch the career of NaomiWatts. The movie received generally positive reviews. At the end of the 2000s it has been called one of the best films of the decade by quite a few critics and viewers.
The positive critical reaction even included a four-star rave review fromRogerEbert Creator/RogerEbert who, with the exception of ''Film/TheStraightStory'', had hated most of Lynch's films. Previously, Lynch had celebrated the "two thumbs down" from Siskel and Ebert for ''LostHighway''.
The positive critical reaction even included a four-star rave review from
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* StrayShotsStrikeNothing: Averted. A hitman's efforts to make a hit look like suicide are complicated when the gun misfires and hits a woman in the next room over.
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* GetOut: ''Get out! Get out before I call my dad ...''
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** Also ''SunsetBoulevard'', which also has an [[TheIngenue ingenue]] named Betty. The actual car from ''Sunset Boulevard'' is parked at the entrance of the studio lot when Betty Elms goes for her audition.
** ''FightClub'' contains a blink-and-you'll-miss-it homage to ''BlueVelvet'', where the characters walk past a street sign (it reads "Lincoln" in ''Blue Velvet'', "Washington" in ''Fight Club''). Lynch seems to have taken note: early in ''Mulholland Drive'', a shot of a man's arm reaching for a phone is identical to the shot of Tyler Durden picking up the phone in his first encounter with Marla.
** ''FightClub'' contains a blink-and-you'll-miss-it homage to ''BlueVelvet'', where the characters walk past a street sign (it reads "Lincoln" in ''Blue Velvet'', "Washington" in ''Fight Club''). Lynch seems to have taken note: early in ''Mulholland Drive'', a shot of a man's arm reaching for a phone is identical to the shot of Tyler Durden picking up the phone in his first encounter with Marla.
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** Also ''SunsetBoulevard'', ''Film/SunsetBoulevard'', which also has an [[TheIngenue ingenue]] named Betty. The actual car from ''Sunset Boulevard'' is parked at the entrance of the studio lot when Betty Elms goes for her audition.
**''FightClub'' ''Film/FightClub'' contains a blink-and-you'll-miss-it homage to ''BlueVelvet'', ''Film/BlueVelvet'', where the characters walk past a street sign (it reads "Lincoln" in ''Blue Velvet'', "Washington" in ''Fight Club''). Lynch seems to have taken note: early in ''Mulholland Drive'', a shot of a man's arm reaching for a phone is identical to the shot of Tyler Durden picking up the phone in his first encounter with Marla.
**
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* MismatchedEyes: Joe, in the first part, is having one blue and one brown eye.
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'''''Mulholland Drive''''' is a 2001 drama/mystery MindScrew directed by mind screw king DavidLynch that helped launch the career of NaomiWatts. The movie received generally positive reviews. At the end of the 2000s it has been called one of the best films of the decade by quite a few critics and viewers.
to:
'''''Mulholland Drive''''' Dr.''''' is a 2001 drama/mystery MindScrew directed by mind screw king DavidLynch that helped launch the career of NaomiWatts. The movie received generally positive reviews. At the end of the 2000s it has been called one of the best films of the decade by quite a few critics and viewers.
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''Mulholland Drive'' is a 2001 drama/mystery MindScrew directed by mind screw king DavidLynch that helped launch the career of NaomiWatts. The movie received generally positive reviews. At the end of the 2000s it has been called one of the best films of the decade by quite a few critics and viewers.
to:
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* EmergingFromTheShadows
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* EmergingFromTheShadowsEmergingFromTheShadows: Mr. Roque.
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* FanDisservice: The masturbation scene displeases some viewers. Betty's audition with someone 40 years older than her deserves a mention.
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* LargeHam: That magician sure loves his ham. And as mentioned in Narm, the film's first part features quite a bit of intentional overacting from every corner (Except [[CreepyMonotone The Cowboy.]])
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Not an audience reaction trope.
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* GirlOnGirlIsHot: The MindScrew regardless, that is one hawt sex scene.
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* StarMakingRole: for NaomiWatts.
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* OnceMoreWithClarity: The phone call chain early on that ends in an unknown dark room lid by a red lamp shade. Later we learn that this is Diane's place as we see her she answer the call.
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* OnceMoreWithClarity: The phone call chain early on that ends in an unknown dark room lid by a red lamp shade. Later we learn that this is Diane's place as we see her she answer the call.
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* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Everything changes after Rita drops the blue box.
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-->''"It's strange calling yourself."''
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-->''"It's strange to be calling yourself."''
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[[caption-width-right:339: [- Betty (left) and Rita (right) are also wondering what the hell is going on.-] ]]
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''It's strange calling yourself.''
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* SanitySlippage: All it took to send Diane over the edge was some knocking on the door.
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* RapeLeadsToInsanity: Some theories argue that childhood abuse may have attributed to Diane's high dream of becoming an actress which as we know ended in failure and depression.
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[[quoteright:339:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NaomiLaura.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:339: [- Betty (left) and Rita (right) are also wondering what the hell is going on.-] ]]
''It's strange calling yourself.''
''Mulholland Drive'' is a 2001 drama/mystery MindScrew directed by mind screw king DavidLynch that helped launch the career of NaomiWatts. The movie received generally positive reviews. At the end of the 2000s it has been called one of the best films of the decade by quite a few critics and viewers.
The positive critical reaction even included a four-star rave review from RogerEbert who, with the exception of ''Film/TheStraightStory'', had hated most of Lynch's films. Previously, Lynch had celebrated the "two thumbs down" from Siskel and Ebert for ''LostHighway''.
Many of those who saw it admitted to having no idea what the hell it was about: TrueArtIsIncomprehensible. Like several of Lynch's films it aims to work as poetry more than a linear narrative.
The plot primarily focuses on two young women: Betty Elms, a perky blonde Canadian who comes to Hollywood to pursue an acting career, and Rita, a sultry brunette who's developed a case of amnesia after an attempted hit on her turned car accident on the titular Mulholland Drive.
After arriving at LAX and moving into her aunt Ruth's apartment, Betty discovers a nude Rita in the shower and isn't too weirded out because she thinks that Rita is a friend of her aunt Ruth's. However, she soon finds out that Rita has amnesia and that all she remembers is being in the accident. They then discover not only sets of 100 dollar bills in Rita's purse but also a blue key, further increasing the mystery. So out of the goodness of her heart and because "It'll be just like in the movies!", Betty decides to play NancyDrew and help Rita discover her true identity, and the two become fast friends ([[LipstickLesbian and more]]).
In addition to the main plot, there is also a film director who just can't seem to catch a break. He even walks in on his wife in bed with their pool man, played by Billy Ray Cyrus of all people. Betty's eccentric landlady is played by Ann Miller in her final role before her death. There is a terribly inept hitman [[HeyItsThatGuy played by]] the incomparable Mark Pellegrino, a creepy cowboy who may or may not be part of this world, a surreal theatre with an even more surreal magician/MC, that mysterious blue box (no, not [[DoctorWho that one]]), and some sort of grungy zombie hobo who lives behind an old-fashioned diner and gives a man a heart attack at just the sight of it.
Yes, it's one of those movies.
A well-made movie, but certainly not for everyone. Just like nearly every Lynch film, viewers tend to LoveItOrHateIt. But it's certainly worth watching at least once, as the direction is aces, the writing is clever and the acting is fairly solid across the board, especially that of NaomiWatts. Just expect lots of MindScrew.
----
!!This film contains examples of:
* AllJustADream: [[spoiler: Everything up until Rita opens the box. OrWasItADream]]
* AnachronicOrder: In the [[spoiler: real life]] sequence later in the movie, we see the blue key, which means that Brunette Camilla [[spoiler:has been killed]], but later scenes clearly take place before that moment.
* ArcWords: 'This is the girl'
* BeardOfEvil: While calling the magician/MC in Club Silencio "evil" is a bit of a stretch, he's still pretty creepy.
* BettyAndVeronica, or rather Betty and Rita.
* BigFancyHouse: Adam Kesher has one of these. Of course, he ''does'' live on Mulholland Drive, a place famous for its Big Fancy Houses.
* BrownNote: [[strike:Who]] ''What''ever that is behind Winkies, the mere sight of ... it is enough to give someone a heart attack.
* ChekhovsGunman [[spoiler: A shorter term instance than most examples, but the MC at the Spanish stage show gives a lecture on TheTreacheryOfImages and WishFulfillment.]]
* ADateWithRosiePalms: Near the end, NaomiWatts has this kind of date.
* DavidLynch: Indubitably.
* DaylightHorror: The "man behind Winkies" scene is somehow made even more disturbing by the fact that it happens in broad daylight.
* DrivenToSuicide: Diane's guilt-ridden exit.
* DyingDream: One of many interpretations.
* EmergingFromTheShadows
* EpicFail: The scene where the hired killer first appears.
* EvilOldFolks: ''Miniature'' evil old folks, no less.
* ExecutiveMeddling: An actual plot point ("This is no longer your film").
* {{Fanservice}}: Naomi Watts and Laura Harring
** And they're not the only hot women in the movie.
* FilmNoir: The film could be called an homage to the genre. For example the character of Betty Elms is clearly inspired by many of Hitchcock's noir heroines. She even wears a dress suit that looks exactly like the one worn by Kim Novak in ''Film/{{Vertigo}}''.
* [[ShowWithinAShow Film Within A Film]]: Types 1 and 3. ''The Sylvia North Story'' is the fictional movie being auditioned for (first part) and worked on (second part).
* FreakyFridayFlip: Involving at least ''five'' different characters.
* GainaxEnding: Puzzling.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: The MindScrew regardless, that is one hawt sex scene.
* GrotesqueGallery: The "man behind Winkies" isn't exactly someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley. Or anywhere.
* HollywoodCalifornia: After all, the subtitle describes the film as "a love story in the city of dreams".
* HorribleHollywood: It looks like Hollywood but ajoins with hell. There is something rotten here, in the airless boardrooms, moving in the back alleys.
* HumanoidAbomination: The Cowboy -- maybe. And the man behind Winkie's. And the EvilOldFolks.
* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Perpetrated by the most negligent hitman since [[PulpFiction Vincent Vega]].
* IWasQuiteALooker: Betty's landlady Coco Lenoix, played by Ann Miller, a dancer and actress who was a fixture in movie musicals of the 1940s and 50s.
* JumpScare: This is how the Bum is introduced.
* KubrickStare: Near the end, [[spoiler: NaomiWatts]] gives one of these. It's incredibly chilling.
* LampshadeHanging: Adam notes what a stock character the Cowboy is.
* LineOfSightName: Laura Harring's amnesiac character takes the name "Rita" after seeing a Rita Hayworth poster.
* LipstickLesbian: NaomiWatts (Betty) is hot. LauraElenaHarring (Rita) is hot. Together, [[http://www.lynchnet.com/mdrive/premiere2.html they're sexier than a good deal of actual pornos]]. Works as FanService.
* LittlePeopleAreSurreal: Played with, although most viewers aren't sure what's even going on in that scene. Basically, dwarf actor Michael J. Anderson (of ''TwinPeaks'' fame) wears the prosthetic body of a big person, with only his head showing. The effect is ''weird''.
* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles: Hits many of the major visual icons. Mulholland Dr., LAX, a palm tree-lined boulevard, etc. Has some lesser known ones: Pink's Hot Dogs, Topanga Canyon.
* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler: The first two thirds of the movie. According to popular theory, it is Diane's dying wish to re-imagine herself as Betty.]]
* LouisCypher: according to various theories, the Cowboy, Mr. Roque, the Bum or the Magician could be this. Actually a [[http://www.mulholland-drive.net/theories/21.htm very popular]] [[EpilepticTrees Epileptic Tree]].
* TheMafia: It's highly implied that Mr. Roque and the Castigliane Bros. aren't your typical meddling executives.
* MindScrew: and how! There's some meta-Mind Screwing as well. One reviewer noted that the prostitute outside Pink's Hot Dogs also sort of looks like NaomiWatts, and asked how many characters she actually played in the movie. Watts: "It depends." (The part was played by an actress named Rena Riffel.)
* MiniatureSeniorCitizens, in the most literal and nightmarish sense.
* OnceMoreWithClarity: The phone call chain early on that ends in an unknown dark room lid by a red lamp shade. Later we learn that this is Diane's place as we see her she answer the call.
* OstentatiousSecret: A key element is a little blue box with a matching key.
* ProsceniumReveal: In the Club Silencio sequence, Rebekah Del Rio [[spoiler: collapses]] during her performance of "Llorando" yet [[spoiler: we continue to hear her singing]], which causes Betty and Rita (and the viewers) to realize [[spoiler: she had been lipsyncing]].
* PsychoLesbian: [[spoiler: Diane Selwyn]].
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "'''No. Hay. Banda! There is. No. Band!'''"
* RealityWarper: [[spoiler: Diane as Betty gets to reimagine her life the way she wants it as part of a dying dream.]] The real RealityWarper in the movie may or may not be the hobo or the cowboy or the magician.
* ScareChord: Go buy the soundtrack and listen to all of "Diner". [[SchmuckBait Make sure to wear headphones, and have them turned up all the way.]]
* SchrodingersButterfly: The big [[MindScrew brain hump]] of this movie is wondering which is real; the last half hour, or everything preceding it? Or both? Or neither? Or both ''and'' neither? Or...
* ShotInTheAss: The heavy-set woman.
* ShoutOut: numerous homages to various films. Some of them (including ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' and Creator/IngmarBergman's ''Film/{{Persona}}''), seem to be intended as points of reference.
** Also ''SunsetBoulevard'', which also has an [[TheIngenue ingenue]] named Betty. The actual car from ''Sunset Boulevard'' is parked at the entrance of the studio lot when Betty Elms goes for her audition.
** ''FightClub'' contains a blink-and-you'll-miss-it homage to ''BlueVelvet'', where the characters walk past a street sign (it reads "Lincoln" in ''Blue Velvet'', "Washington" in ''Fight Club''). Lynch seems to have taken note: early in ''Mulholland Drive'', a shot of a man's arm reaching for a phone is identical to the shot of Tyler Durden picking up the phone in his first encounter with Marla.
** ''CarnivalOfSouls'', when Rita exits the crashed car.
** Some of the more nightmarish sequences allude heavily to the Brazilian "Coffin Joe" films.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The Fifties pop music.
* StarMakingRole: for NaomiWatts.
* StylisticSuck: Were you somewhat annoyed or surprised by Naomi Watts' poor, exaggerated, even Narmy acting throughout the beginning of the film? This is indeed intentional and will make (some) sense [[MindScrew in the end]].
* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: "You ''don't'' have to sleep on that couch!"
* TomatoInTheMirror: Part of the most popular interpretation.
* TheTreacheryOfImages: "''No hay banda!'' There is no band. ''Il n'y a pas d'orchestre.''"
* TwoActStructure: Sappy first act, darker second act.
* TheUnsolvedMystery: Just like many other movies by David Lynch. [[spoiler: We DO actually learn the true identity of Rita, but it doesn't help things in any way.]]
* WishFulfillment: [[spoiler: In-Universe, the first half of the film. Maybe.]]
* WomanScorned: Another popular interpretation.
----
[[caption-width-right:339: [- Betty (left) and Rita (right) are also wondering what the hell is going on.-] ]]
''It's strange calling yourself.''
''Mulholland Drive'' is a 2001 drama/mystery MindScrew directed by mind screw king DavidLynch that helped launch the career of NaomiWatts. The movie received generally positive reviews. At the end of the 2000s it has been called one of the best films of the decade by quite a few critics and viewers.
The positive critical reaction even included a four-star rave review from RogerEbert who, with the exception of ''Film/TheStraightStory'', had hated most of Lynch's films. Previously, Lynch had celebrated the "two thumbs down" from Siskel and Ebert for ''LostHighway''.
Many of those who saw it admitted to having no idea what the hell it was about: TrueArtIsIncomprehensible. Like several of Lynch's films it aims to work as poetry more than a linear narrative.
The plot primarily focuses on two young women: Betty Elms, a perky blonde Canadian who comes to Hollywood to pursue an acting career, and Rita, a sultry brunette who's developed a case of amnesia after an attempted hit on her turned car accident on the titular Mulholland Drive.
After arriving at LAX and moving into her aunt Ruth's apartment, Betty discovers a nude Rita in the shower and isn't too weirded out because she thinks that Rita is a friend of her aunt Ruth's. However, she soon finds out that Rita has amnesia and that all she remembers is being in the accident. They then discover not only sets of 100 dollar bills in Rita's purse but also a blue key, further increasing the mystery. So out of the goodness of her heart and because "It'll be just like in the movies!", Betty decides to play NancyDrew and help Rita discover her true identity, and the two become fast friends ([[LipstickLesbian and more]]).
In addition to the main plot, there is also a film director who just can't seem to catch a break. He even walks in on his wife in bed with their pool man, played by Billy Ray Cyrus of all people. Betty's eccentric landlady is played by Ann Miller in her final role before her death. There is a terribly inept hitman [[HeyItsThatGuy played by]] the incomparable Mark Pellegrino, a creepy cowboy who may or may not be part of this world, a surreal theatre with an even more surreal magician/MC, that mysterious blue box (no, not [[DoctorWho that one]]), and some sort of grungy zombie hobo who lives behind an old-fashioned diner and gives a man a heart attack at just the sight of it.
Yes, it's one of those movies.
A well-made movie, but certainly not for everyone. Just like nearly every Lynch film, viewers tend to LoveItOrHateIt. But it's certainly worth watching at least once, as the direction is aces, the writing is clever and the acting is fairly solid across the board, especially that of NaomiWatts. Just expect lots of MindScrew.
----
!!This film contains examples of:
* AllJustADream: [[spoiler: Everything up until Rita opens the box. OrWasItADream]]
* AnachronicOrder: In the [[spoiler: real life]] sequence later in the movie, we see the blue key, which means that Brunette Camilla [[spoiler:has been killed]], but later scenes clearly take place before that moment.
* ArcWords: 'This is the girl'
* BeardOfEvil: While calling the magician/MC in Club Silencio "evil" is a bit of a stretch, he's still pretty creepy.
* BettyAndVeronica, or rather Betty and Rita.
* BigFancyHouse: Adam Kesher has one of these. Of course, he ''does'' live on Mulholland Drive, a place famous for its Big Fancy Houses.
* BrownNote: [[strike:Who]] ''What''ever that is behind Winkies, the mere sight of ... it is enough to give someone a heart attack.
* ChekhovsGunman [[spoiler: A shorter term instance than most examples, but the MC at the Spanish stage show gives a lecture on TheTreacheryOfImages and WishFulfillment.]]
* ADateWithRosiePalms: Near the end, NaomiWatts has this kind of date.
* DavidLynch: Indubitably.
* DaylightHorror: The "man behind Winkies" scene is somehow made even more disturbing by the fact that it happens in broad daylight.
* DrivenToSuicide: Diane's guilt-ridden exit.
* DyingDream: One of many interpretations.
* EmergingFromTheShadows
* EpicFail: The scene where the hired killer first appears.
* EvilOldFolks: ''Miniature'' evil old folks, no less.
* ExecutiveMeddling: An actual plot point ("This is no longer your film").
* {{Fanservice}}: Naomi Watts and Laura Harring
** And they're not the only hot women in the movie.
* FilmNoir: The film could be called an homage to the genre. For example the character of Betty Elms is clearly inspired by many of Hitchcock's noir heroines. She even wears a dress suit that looks exactly like the one worn by Kim Novak in ''Film/{{Vertigo}}''.
* [[ShowWithinAShow Film Within A Film]]: Types 1 and 3. ''The Sylvia North Story'' is the fictional movie being auditioned for (first part) and worked on (second part).
* FreakyFridayFlip: Involving at least ''five'' different characters.
* GainaxEnding: Puzzling.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: The MindScrew regardless, that is one hawt sex scene.
* GrotesqueGallery: The "man behind Winkies" isn't exactly someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley. Or anywhere.
* HollywoodCalifornia: After all, the subtitle describes the film as "a love story in the city of dreams".
* HorribleHollywood: It looks like Hollywood but ajoins with hell. There is something rotten here, in the airless boardrooms, moving in the back alleys.
* HumanoidAbomination: The Cowboy -- maybe. And the man behind Winkie's. And the EvilOldFolks.
* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Perpetrated by the most negligent hitman since [[PulpFiction Vincent Vega]].
* IWasQuiteALooker: Betty's landlady Coco Lenoix, played by Ann Miller, a dancer and actress who was a fixture in movie musicals of the 1940s and 50s.
* JumpScare: This is how the Bum is introduced.
* KubrickStare: Near the end, [[spoiler: NaomiWatts]] gives one of these. It's incredibly chilling.
* LampshadeHanging: Adam notes what a stock character the Cowboy is.
* LineOfSightName: Laura Harring's amnesiac character takes the name "Rita" after seeing a Rita Hayworth poster.
* LipstickLesbian: NaomiWatts (Betty) is hot. LauraElenaHarring (Rita) is hot. Together, [[http://www.lynchnet.com/mdrive/premiere2.html they're sexier than a good deal of actual pornos]]. Works as FanService.
* LittlePeopleAreSurreal: Played with, although most viewers aren't sure what's even going on in that scene. Basically, dwarf actor Michael J. Anderson (of ''TwinPeaks'' fame) wears the prosthetic body of a big person, with only his head showing. The effect is ''weird''.
* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles: Hits many of the major visual icons. Mulholland Dr., LAX, a palm tree-lined boulevard, etc. Has some lesser known ones: Pink's Hot Dogs, Topanga Canyon.
* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler: The first two thirds of the movie. According to popular theory, it is Diane's dying wish to re-imagine herself as Betty.]]
* LouisCypher: according to various theories, the Cowboy, Mr. Roque, the Bum or the Magician could be this. Actually a [[http://www.mulholland-drive.net/theories/21.htm very popular]] [[EpilepticTrees Epileptic Tree]].
* TheMafia: It's highly implied that Mr. Roque and the Castigliane Bros. aren't your typical meddling executives.
* MindScrew: and how! There's some meta-Mind Screwing as well. One reviewer noted that the prostitute outside Pink's Hot Dogs also sort of looks like NaomiWatts, and asked how many characters she actually played in the movie. Watts: "It depends." (The part was played by an actress named Rena Riffel.)
* MiniatureSeniorCitizens, in the most literal and nightmarish sense.
* OnceMoreWithClarity: The phone call chain early on that ends in an unknown dark room lid by a red lamp shade. Later we learn that this is Diane's place as we see her she answer the call.
* OstentatiousSecret: A key element is a little blue box with a matching key.
* ProsceniumReveal: In the Club Silencio sequence, Rebekah Del Rio [[spoiler: collapses]] during her performance of "Llorando" yet [[spoiler: we continue to hear her singing]], which causes Betty and Rita (and the viewers) to realize [[spoiler: she had been lipsyncing]].
* PsychoLesbian: [[spoiler: Diane Selwyn]].
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "'''No. Hay. Banda! There is. No. Band!'''"
* RealityWarper: [[spoiler: Diane as Betty gets to reimagine her life the way she wants it as part of a dying dream.]] The real RealityWarper in the movie may or may not be the hobo or the cowboy or the magician.
* ScareChord: Go buy the soundtrack and listen to all of "Diner". [[SchmuckBait Make sure to wear headphones, and have them turned up all the way.]]
* SchrodingersButterfly: The big [[MindScrew brain hump]] of this movie is wondering which is real; the last half hour, or everything preceding it? Or both? Or neither? Or both ''and'' neither? Or...
* ShotInTheAss: The heavy-set woman.
* ShoutOut: numerous homages to various films. Some of them (including ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' and Creator/IngmarBergman's ''Film/{{Persona}}''), seem to be intended as points of reference.
** Also ''SunsetBoulevard'', which also has an [[TheIngenue ingenue]] named Betty. The actual car from ''Sunset Boulevard'' is parked at the entrance of the studio lot when Betty Elms goes for her audition.
** ''FightClub'' contains a blink-and-you'll-miss-it homage to ''BlueVelvet'', where the characters walk past a street sign (it reads "Lincoln" in ''Blue Velvet'', "Washington" in ''Fight Club''). Lynch seems to have taken note: early in ''Mulholland Drive'', a shot of a man's arm reaching for a phone is identical to the shot of Tyler Durden picking up the phone in his first encounter with Marla.
** ''CarnivalOfSouls'', when Rita exits the crashed car.
** Some of the more nightmarish sequences allude heavily to the Brazilian "Coffin Joe" films.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The Fifties pop music.
* StarMakingRole: for NaomiWatts.
* StylisticSuck: Were you somewhat annoyed or surprised by Naomi Watts' poor, exaggerated, even Narmy acting throughout the beginning of the film? This is indeed intentional and will make (some) sense [[MindScrew in the end]].
* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: "You ''don't'' have to sleep on that couch!"
* TomatoInTheMirror: Part of the most popular interpretation.
* TheTreacheryOfImages: "''No hay banda!'' There is no band. ''Il n'y a pas d'orchestre.''"
* TwoActStructure: Sappy first act, darker second act.
* TheUnsolvedMystery: Just like many other movies by David Lynch. [[spoiler: We DO actually learn the true identity of Rita, but it doesn't help things in any way.]]
* WishFulfillment: [[spoiler: In-Universe, the first half of the film. Maybe.]]
* WomanScorned: Another popular interpretation.
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