History Film / MulhollandDrive

''Mulholland Drive'' is a 2001 [[MindScrew mind-screwing]] drama/mystery directed by mind screw king Creator/DavidLynch that helped launch the career of Creator/NaomiWatts.

[[caption-width-right:350: [- Betty (left) and Rita (right) are also wondering what the hell is going on.-] ]]

The plot primarily focuses on two young women: Betty Elms (Watts), a perky blonde Canadian who comes to Hollywood to pursue an acting career, and Rita ([[Creator/LauraElenaHarring Laura Harring]]), a sultry brunette who's developed a case of amnesia after an attempted hit on her turns into a car accident on the titular Mulholland Drive.

** To Lynch’s previous film ''Film/LostHighway'' as they are both about [[spoiler:characters who adapt multiple identities and explore altered environments that are implied to be [[AllJustADream delusions on the protagonists' parts]]. Some viewers and critics have even commented that ''Mulholland Drive's'' narrative structure is the reverse of ''Lost Highway's'' narrative structure.]]

* AnonymousPublicPhoneCall: Betty tries to find out if there was an accident on Mulholland Drive without exposing her identity to the police. So she places a call from a payphone outside a diner. When the police officer confirms the accident and asks for her name she quickly hangs up.

* ConversationCut: The scene with Betty and Rita at Winkies, when Rita starts to [[EurekaMoment remember something]], the scene cuts to Havenhurst, where Rita finally lets Betty in on her findings.

* DramaticShattering: As a cut-over from the highly emotional dinner party scene to Winkies where the waitress drops some dishes.

* EldritchLocation: Winkies Diner ''[[MindScrew might]]'' be one, or at least the alleyway behind it.

* {{Fanservice}}: Rita and Betty have a fairly explicit sex scene about halfway through.[[note]]If you want to call a few kisses a "fairly explicit sex scene" at all.[[/note]]

* MundaneHorror: The "man behind Winkies" scene is the quintessence of this. Two men are talking in a diner, with one of them telling the other about a nightmare he had, in which there was a [[HumanoidAbomination horrible abomination]] in the back of the diner. Everything happens in broad daylight, with many customers around, and nothing indicates anything out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, they go to check, and when it looks like nobody is there, and he is about to calm down... the abomination actually appears.

* TheArtifact: This film began life as an ABC pilot, and was reworked by Lynch as a feature film after ABC rejected it. There are bits in the movie that never go anywhere, presumably because they would have been developed in the proposed series. Robert Forster appears in one scene as a detective investigating the car crash and is never seen again. Neither is Mr. Roque after the shooting of Adam's movie was stopped.

In addition to the main plot, there is also a film director (Justin Theroux), 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 [[WTHCastingAgency 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 played by the incomparable Creator/MarkPellegrino, a creepy cowboy who [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane may or may not be part of this world]], a surreal theatre with an even more surreal magician/MC, that mysterious blue box, 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.

* BrownNote: Who/What ever ''that'' is behind Winkies, the mere sight of ... ''it'' is enough to give someone a heart attack.

* CallBack: The second[[spoiler:, reality-based]] portion of the film is absolutely packed to the gills with this. With the exception of Mr. Roque and the two detectives[[note]]they could exist in the real life though, as Diane's neighbor mentions that the two detectives were looking for her again but this is never confirmed[[/note]], virtually everything from the first part of the movie, [[spoiler:Diane's dream]], shows up in the second part of the movie, [[spoiler:reflecting how her dream took details from real life.]]

** The mysterious, odd blue key in the first part appears as a more ordinary, but much more ominous blue key in the second part, when it's used to deliver a message.

* ConcealmentEqualsCover: Comically averted when Joe accidental pulls the trigger on Ed's gun and the bullet passes through the wall to hit the fat lady in the next room.

* DroneOfDread: The soundtrack is about two thirds this and one third dissonant 50's music. Something of a CreatorThumbprint for Lynch.

* {{Mockspiracy}}: [[spoiler:The omniscient Hollywood conspiracy involving mafia, men on black limos, and a mysterious wheelchair-bound kingpin Mr. Roque was just a fantasy of a failed actress Diane Selwyn ... ''possibly''.]]

* NeverSayThatAgain: Diane demands this from Camilla during the couch scene, when Camilla says she wants to stop having sex.

** Due to the MindScrew nature of the film, it's hard to determine if Creator/MelissaGeorge's character is actually singing Linda Scott's "I've Told Every Little Star" or if she's also lip syncing it InUniverse. (It is heavily implied and speculated that her character is a "talent-less bimbo").

* OnceMoreWithClarity: The phone call chain early on, which starts with Mr. Roque and ends in an unknown dark room lid by a red lamp shade. Later we learn that this is Diane's bedroom when we see her answer a different call.

* PinkMeansFeminine: During the musical audition scene, all the women auditioning have pink in their attire with Creator/MelissaGeorge's Camilla Rhodes wearing an all pink dress.

* TakeThat: ExecutiveMeddling as portrayed by Mr Roque and the Castigliane brothers really exists in Hollywood. Lynch is showing them for what they are, how they squeeze the creative life out of the business.

* WorldOfMysteries: [[MysticalHollywood This movie's version of Hollywood is this]]: it has mafia, mysterious MenInBlack on limos, an enigmatic phone call chain involving unspecified people from different parts of LA, weird {{McGuffin}}s like a strangely shaped blue key and a black book with phone numbers, supernatural entities like the AmbiguouslyHuman Cowboy and a creepy bum living in the backyard of a diner, and much more... [[spoiler: Probably subverted, since the ending implies that it was a dream of a failed actress who ordered a hit on her successful friend and lover out of envy and jealousy, and the overall feel of mystery and paranoia is due to her subconscious feel of guilt and fear of being caught. Then again, maybe not.]]

* AuthorAvatar: The Magician's words carry meaning that seem to come straight from the mouth of the director.

* TranslatedCoverVersion: The movie features Rebekah Del Rio performing an admittedly unrecognizable [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrC3Bf-CvHU Spanish a capella rendition]] of Roy Orbison's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNdBLBleO90 "Crying."]]

* CanadaEh: Where Betty came from.

** In an odd case (befitting the film's theme), Rebekah Del Rio is lip syncing her own song.

* HollywoodCalifornia: After all, the {{tagline}} describes the film as "a love story in the city of dreams."

* GenreBusting: "Mystery" is perhaps the most ''[[MindScrew informative]]'' way this film could be described to someone who's never heard of it.

* FreakyFridayFlip: [[spoiler:Involving at least ''five'' different characters.]]

* EpicFail: The scene where the hired killer first appears.

* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Laura Harring's character is being admired by Betty/Diane as well as Blondie at the dinner party.

* DrivenToSuicide: Diane's guilt-ridden exit.

* DoubleMeaningTitle:
** In the film, Mulholland Drive is the location of two pivotal events: the car crash and Adam's party.
** Also, the film portrays Mulholland Drive as a dark, foggy, twisting road with a [[spoiler:secret path]]. Likewise, this is a good description for the film's narrative structure, which contains multiple mysteries to be solved, not to mention MindScrew elements, a HalfwayPlotSwitch, SurrealHorror, and some borderline NonSequitur events.
** Mulholland Drive is a notable Hollywood street, and indeed, most of the film's plot revolves around Hollywood actors and the [[invoked]] ExecutiveMeddling of the industry.
** The movie uses the street sign as its title card, hence the stylization of the movie's title as ''Mulholland Dr.'' However, given the [[spoiler:multiple dream {{Motifs}} and the implication that the first half of the movie is AllJustADream]], one can interpret the title as not only "Mulholland Drive" but also [[spoiler:"Mulholland Dream".]]

* DirtyOldMan: It is implied that the actor who auditioned with Betty is one, judging by the "they can be catty at times" line in the scene after.

* ChekhovsGunman [[spoiler:A shorter term instance than most examples, but the MC at the Spanish stage show gives a lecture on false images and wish fulfillment.]]

* {{Dedication}}: The film was dedicated to [[http://mulholland-drive.net/cast/jennifer.htm Jennifer Syme]].

* AteHisGun: How Diane Selwyn killed herself.

** Some things [[spoiler:in the dream]] are taken from entirely trivial things in the [[spoiler:"real life"]] part of the movie. The Cowboy, who is such an ominous, scary character in the first part, is only briefly glimpsed in the second part as a guest at Adam's party. In the first part, the hitman kills his buddy over a book on the buddy's desk that is apparently very important; in the second part the book is simply sitting on the table at the diner next to the hit man, and it has nothing to do with anything.
* TheCameo: Robert Forster as Detective [=McKnight=] and Creator/DanHedaya as Vincenzo Castigliane. Considering that the film was originally developed as a television pilot, both actors were intended to have more screen time; there's even some deleted footage with Forster still available online. Due to ExecutiveMeddling however, the series was paired down to a two and a half hour movie and all but one of their respective scenes were cut.

* [[CheatingWithTheMilkman Cheating with the Poolman]]: Returning home early, Adam finds his wife in bed with the poolman.

* GetOut: ''Get out! Get out before I call my dad ...''

* LittleBlackDress: Worn by the two female leads at different points in the film.

* ScareChord: Go buy the soundtrack and listen to all of "Diner".

* WomanScorned: Another popular interpretation - the uncommon lesbian or bisexual version.

* AlienFairFolk: The Cowboy may be this, given his relation to electricity (lightbulb turning on/off when he appears/disappears), his somewhat UncannyValley appearance and behavior, and numerous similarities to characters of this type from Series/TwinPeaks.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: Again, The Cowboy. The man behind Winkies is a trifle [[HumanoidAbomination less ambiguous.]]

* BeardOfEvil: While calling the magician/MC in Club Silencio "evil" is a bit of a stretch, he's still pretty creepy.

* ButtMonkey: Adam's day starts out bad, and quickly goes FromBadToWorse as it seems as though everyone and everything is conspiring against him. By the end, he's a broke man hiding out in a seedy motel in downtown Los Angeles.

* ClassyCane: The Magician has one.

* CoolOldLady: Coco. [[spoiler:At least in the first act.]]

* CrosscastRole: The much-mentioned man behind Winkie's is actually actress [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0007491/?ref_=rvi_nm Bonnie Aarons.]] Bet you didn't see that coming, eh?

* DeadpanSnarker: Adam [[spoiler:in the first half]] becomes one as he tries to understand just what the hell is happening to him. By the end he's permanently trapped in SarcasmMode.
* DepravedBisexual: [[spoiler:Camilla, possibly, but she is shown as promiscuous with both men and women, manipulative, and vicious. Although she is seen through the eyes of her PsychoLesbian ex-lover, Diane, so it's very possible that none of this is real.]]

* EvilOldFolks: ''Miniature'' evil old folks, no less.

* HumanoidAbomination: The man behind Winkie's. And the EvilOldFolks. And the Cowboy too ([[MindScrew maybe?]]).

* KubrickStare:
** The master of ceremonies at Club Silencio gives one before seeming to disappear in a puff of smoke.
** Near the end, Creator/NaomiWatts gives one of these. It's incredibly chilling.

* 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.]])

* LittlePeopleAreSurreal: Played with, although most viewers aren't sure what's even going on in that scene. Basically, dwarf actor Michael J. Anderson (of ''Series/TwinPeaks'' fame) wears the prosthetic body of a big person, with only his head showing. The effect is ''weird''.

* MarySue: [[spoiler:An InUniverse example with Betty, who turns out to be Diane's idealized image of herself. Diane is a failed actress who got dumped by Camilla. She didn't get a part in ''The Sylvia North Story'' because the director didn't like her. She's bitter and filled with rage. Diane imagines/dreams that she is Betty, a talented actress who knocks everybody's socks off at the audition. In her fantasy, she wins the love of "Rita" instead of getting dumped. And in her fantasy she didn't miss out on that part because she wasn't good enough, she lost the part because the Mafia made Adam Kesher cast someone else.]]

* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: In the most literal and nightmarish sense.

* MysteriousPast: Rita. [[spoiler:This is resolved in the second half of the film... ''possibly.'']]

* NoBrows: The Cowboy's creepiness is amplified by his lack of eyebrows.

* PsychoLesbian: Diane Selwyn, who goes mad with jealousy after Camilla dumps her.

* SanitySlippage: Diane becomes the victim of this.

* StealthHiBye: The cowboy. Also the hobo at the diner.