Line #27 YMMV/MulhollandDrive


1	* AwardSnub:
2	** Going by [[https://criticstop10.com/best-of-2001/ critics' Top 10 lists]], it was one of the most acclaimed films of 2001. Retroactively, the film has been deemed by critics to be one of the greatest films of the 21st century so far, being one of only two films since 2000 to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sight_%26_Sound_Top_50_Greatest_Films_of_All_Time crack the Sight & Sound's Top 50 poll]] in 2012 (the other being ''Film/InTheMoodForLove''). However, at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, the film received only one nomination, for Creator/DavidLynch's direction. He ended up losing to Creator/RonHoward for ''Film/ABeautifulMind''.
3	** Additionally, Creator/NaomiWatts' performance earned enormous acclaim from the critical community, earning her the National Society of Film Critics Prize for Best Actress. She was also the runner-up at both the New York and Los Angeles Film Critics Associations. She unfortunately was not nominated by the Academy.
4	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: This is scored by Angelo Badalamenti, who's no stranger to Lynch, and he doesn't disappoint. Even if you hate the movie, you have to admit that the soundtrack's pretty good.
5	* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Some people seem to think that the film apparently consists entirely of random weird stuff surrounding [[GirlOnGirlIsHot a hot lesbian make-out]] between Naomi Watts and Laura Harring.
6	* CreepyAwesome: The cowboy, the magician, Mr. Roque and the [[HumanoidAbomination thing behind Winkies]].
7	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Given the film's large cast of [[Series/TwinPeaks Twin Peaks-esque]] side characters, this is bound to happen.
8	** Joe, (also known as [[MeaningfulName Joe Messing]] in the unaired pilot) the hilariously incompetent hitman who would give even [[Film/PulpFiction Vincent Vega]] a run for his money. Being played by Creator/MarkPellegrino certainly doesn't hurt.
9	** The "man" behind Winkie's for its frightening appearance and being the perpetrator behind one of modern cinema's most effective [[JumpScare Jump Scares]].
10	** The Cowboy for his memorably mesmerizing lines and being a very enigmatic and mysterious character as a whole.
11	** The Magician for being an AuthorAvatar and Richard Green delivering a hammy performance.
12	* FridgeHorror: The scene where Betty and Rita find [[spoiler:Diane's decomposing body]] is pretty unsettling as it is. But it becomes a lot creepier (and more understandable, for that one) in retrospect if one accepts the interpretation that this is [[spoiler:part of Diane's dream right before killing herself]].
13	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The film was very popular in France, so popular in fact that Lynch, someone who usually enforces DeathOfTheAuthor for his works, felt obligated to give the French audience clues to understanding the film.
14	* HilariousInHindsight:
15	** This wouldn't be the [[Series/TwinPeaks last time]] David Lynch had doppelgangers of a woman named [[spoiler: Diane.]]
16	** [[CrosscastRole Actress]] Bonnie Aarons, who plays the [[HumanoidAbomination "man"]] behind Winkies, would go on to play ''another'' terrifying demonic creature in the sequel to ''Film/TheConjuring.''
17	*** Said abomination is behind Winkies, a thinly veiled stand-in for Denny’s. A decade and a half later, Denny’s themselves would adopt a social media advertising campaign which became known for bordering on the Lynchian involving Denny’s as a chain being an EldritchLocation.
18	* JerkassWoobie:
19	** [[spoiler:Diane. She's pretty pitiful, even after having her best friend/lover killed out of jealousy]].
20	** The director [[spoiler: In the first half]] as well, who gets an over-the-top TraumaCongaLine thrown his way from the word "go".
21	* NarmCharm: The EvilOldFolks at the climax.
22	* NauseaFuel: [[spoiler: Diane's]] partially decaying corpse is all grey, bloated and her face is horribly disfigured and bruised by decomposition to the point of ''half-skeletal''.
23	* OneSceneWonder: Creator/MelissaGeorge and the Cowboy. Both get callbacks in the second half of the film. Also the [[JumpScare thing]] behind the restaurant.
24	* ParanoiaFuel: The first two thirds of the movie is filled to the brim with some sort of inexplicable menace which never really gets any explanation. Rita is obviously mixed with organized crime and the mafia is on the lookout for her, there is a hitman tasked with hunting her down and an ominous woman comes knocking at Betty's doorway in the middle of the night, telling that someone is in danger, accidentally catching a glimpse on Rita in the process. When Betty and Rita are looking for Diane's apartment, they see men in black on a patrol in the neighborhood. The initial discovery of [[spoiler: Diane's corpse]] indicates that everyone even remotely involved with Rita is in grave danger. The last third is almost completely devoid of this for reasons unknown but most likely due to [[spoiler: Diane imagining it all]].
25	* RetroactiveRecognition: One of the backup singers during the "16 ways I love you" number is apparently...Creator/BrianBeacock. Yeah. [[Anime/DigimonTamers That]] [[VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa}} Brian]] [[Manga/BungoStrayDogs Beacock.]]
26	* SignatureScene: The [[HumanoidAbomination "man"]] behind Winkie's, widely considered one of the most effective jump scares in film.
27	* SpiritualSuccessor: Due to both movies being named after famous streets in Hollywood and the shared themes of the disillusionment of the Hollywood system - particularly for actresses - the film could be considered a spiritual sequel of sorts to Creator/BillyWilder's ''Film/SunsetBoulevard''.
28	* TearJerker: The ending, good lord.
29	* VindicatedByHistory: The film is now widely regarded by critics and audiences as arguably Lynch's best film, or at least up there with ''Blue Velvet'', and the interpretation that the first two-thirds of the film are in some way a dream of the Diane character in the last third of the film has become the most widely accepted interpretation (even though the film itself remains ambiguous enough that this isn't the ''only'' possible interpretation.) However, when it was first released, at least one major reviewer (Todd [=McCarthy=] in ''Variety'') said that the first two thirds of the film were great, but the last third was completely pointless and unnecessary:
30	-->"[S]uffice it to say that, for the final 45 minutes, Lynch is in mind-twisting mode that presents a form of alternate reality with no apparent meaning or logical connection to what came before."
31	* TheWoobie: Rita near the beginning.

Context YMMV / MulhollandDrive