Rotten Tomatoes
Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Lost Highway

Play trailer Poster for Lost Highway R 1997 2h 15m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
70% Tomatometer 63 Reviews 87% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
From this inventory of imagery, Lynch fashions two separate but intersecting stories, one about a jazz musician (Bill Pullman), tortured by the notion that his wife is having an affair, who suddenly finds himself accused of her murder. The other is a young mechanic (Balthazar Getty) drawn into a web of deceit by a temptress who is cheating on her gangster boyfriend. These two tales are linked by the fact that the women in both are played by the same actress (Patricia Arquette).
Watch on Fandango Stream Now

Where to Watch

Lost Highway

Lost Highway

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Marking a further escalation in David Lynch's surrealist style, Lost Highway is a foreboding mystery that arguably leads to a dead end, although it is signposted throughout with some of the director's most haunting images yet.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Kelly Burke Sydney Morning Herald Apr 29, 2026
More mood than matter, Lost Highway is nevertheless worth experiencing. Just don't expect to make sense of it. Go to Full Review Kevin Maher The Times (UK) Dec 16, 2024
5/5
Forget about vampires, zombies and the undead, this is true horror. Go to Full Review Richard Brody The New Yorker Jul 5, 2022
Lynch brings the movie’s febrile and violent artifice to life in visual compositions of a poised, painterly authority and interrupts them with quick bursts of hallucinatory frenzy. Go to Full Review Patrick Cavanaugh The Wolfman Cometh Sep 12, 2025
4/5
Possibly David Lynch's best blend of a cohesive narrative mixed with otherworldly elements. Go to Full Review Chance Solem-Pfeifer Willamette Week Feb 12, 2025
Evil flows like an invisible current through Lost Highway, one of Lynch’s feel-bad best. Go to Full Review Noah Berlatsky Everything is Horrible (Substack) Jan 23, 2025
Lynch refuses to commit to any clear theme beyond the standard misogynist noir trope that women who have sexual autonomy are evil and maybe deserve to be murdered. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Jonny Mar 23, 2025 amazing. chilling and artful. beautiful See more Jadan S Mar 22, 2025 This film was the closest experience I've had that was akin to experiencing a dream while fully awake. Make no mistake, you will be lost while watching this. But it is 100% worth the journey. See more Peter Mar 22, 2025 I don't know how to rate it. I hated it and loved it at the same. See more Meathook C @MeathookCinema Sep 6, 2026 Very good simmering surreal neo-noir from David Lynch See more Roger K @RogerKent_Film Jul 4, 2026 To me, this is Lynch at his best! A masterclass in tension building. Any shortcomings you might find, to me, are completely overshadowed by Lynch's strong vision and craft. See more T C @RT19842617 Jun 27, 2026 I'm a longtime Lynch fan and I have no problem saying that this is one of the two worst movies I have seen by anybody, any time, anywhere. It's a maddeningly nonsensical pastiche of sometimes arresting scenarios, gratuitous images, and utterly unbaked ideas. Hmm, come to think of it, maybe you have to be baked to watch this thing. I wasn't, but I did join in with the theater audience in the last 20 minutes, when we couldn't take it anymore and shouted comical barbs at the screen. Now THAT experience rates 5 stars. See more Read all reviews
Lost Highway

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Cast & Crew

View All

David Lynch

Director

Bill Pullman

Fred Madison

Patricia Arquette

Renee Madison

Balthazar Getty

Pete Dayton

Robert Blake

Mystery Man

Natasha Gregson Wagner

Sheila

Movie Clips

View All

Lost Highway

View more videos

More Like This

View All
Haunted 80% 50% Haunted Watchlist Bloody Angels 75% 67% Bloody Angels Watchlist Red Corner 27% 47% Red Corner Watchlist Copycat 76% 65% Copycat Watchlist Let the Devil Wear Black 67% 26% Let the Devil Wear Black Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

Lost Highway

BILL PULLMAN as "Fred Madison." PATRICIA ARQUETTE as "Renee Madison" and BILL PULLMAN as "Fred Madison." "Mystery Man" (ROBERT BLAKE) (l), and "Mr. Eddy" (ROBERT LOGGIA) (r). BILL PULLMAN as "Fred Madison." PATRICIA ARQUETTE as "Renee Madison." "Pete Dayton" (BALTHAZAR GETTY) and "Alice Wakefield" (PATRICIA ARQUETTE). PATRICIA ARQUETTE as "Renee Madison." PATRICIA ARQUETTE as "Alice Wakefield." View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis From this inventory of imagery, Lynch fashions two separate but intersecting stories, one about a jazz musician (Bill Pullman), tortured by the notion that his wife is having an affair, who suddenly finds himself accused of her murder. The other is a young mechanic (Balthazar Getty) drawn into a web of deceit by a temptress who is cheating on her gangster boyfriend. These two tales are linked by the fact that the women in both are played by the same actress (Patricia Arquette).
Director
David Lynch
Producer
Deepak Nayar, Tom Sternberg, Mary Sweeney
Screenwriter
David Lynch, Barry Gifford
Distributor
October Films
Production Co
October Films, Lost Highway Productions, Asymmetrical Productions
Rating
R (Strong Language|Sexual Content|Violence)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 21, 1997, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 13, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$18.0K
Runtime
2h 15m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings