David Lynch is one of the most unique filmmakers out there. When you’re watching a David Lynch movie, you’re very aware that you’re watching a David Lynch movie. There’s no mistaking it. And any attempt by another director to weave unsettling imagery into malleable, dreamlike narratives quite like he does never manages to scrape the deeply personal, intimate sense of identity that Lynch’s films have.
Lynch’s movies are surreal parables about the dark side of humanity and the unpredictable cruelty of the world. His characters are iconic. So, here are the best characters from IMDb’s 10 top-rated David Lynch movies.
Dune (6.5) – Paul Atreides
Although David Lynch ended up disowning the film and Dune has become a cult classic in the years since its release.
Herbert didn’t like the changes that Lynch made to the character of Paul Atreides — who will hopefully get a more faithful adaptation in Denis Villeneuve’s movie version — but with the muddled material Lynch gave him, Kyle MacLachlan did a fine job in the role.
Inland Empire (6.9) – Nikki Grace/Sue Blue
Filmed on a Sony camcorder as opposed to traditional film stock, Inland Empire is one of David Lynch’s most curious films. It’s also the last feature-length movie he directed, as he hasn’t helmed a movie in the 14 years since it was released.
Lynch has given Laura Dern some of her most substantial roles, paving the way for many of her finest performances, and her turn as Nikki Grace and Sue Blue anchors Inland Empire spectacularly.
Wild At Heart (7.2) – Lula Pace Fortune
Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern star in Lynch’s surreal road movie Wild at Heart. They play a couple who goes on the run after Dern’s character’s unhinged mother hires gangsters to kill Cage’s character.
While Cage brings a pitch-black comic wit to his performance as Southern outlaw Sailor Ripley, it’s Lynch regular Dern as Lula Pace Fortune who steals the show.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (7.3) – Special Agent Dale Cooper
What inspired David Lynch Fire Walk with Me, was his attachment to Laura Palmer, so the murdered homecoming queen is the focal point of the film.
But the most compelling character in this story is still Special Agent Dale Cooper, the pie-loving FBI suit played by Lynch favorite Kyle MacLachlan, who acts as the audience surrogate in the titular town, but actually feels more alien than any of the townspeople.
Eraserhead (7.4) – Henry Spencer
This is the film whose unprecedented success on the midnight movie circuit launched David Lynch’s directing career and put him on the map as one of the most fascinating filmmakers to keep an eye on.
As the man at the heart of the story, facing the brunt of the film’s cynical take on industry and human relationships, Henry Spencer is one of Lynch’s most compelling characters.
Lost Highway (7.6) – Fred Madison
The unusual storytelling of Lost Highway has been compared to a Möbius strip, with David Lynch claiming that it’s not really a story at all, but rather a cinematic fugue state.
In one of the greatest performances of his career, Bill Pullman draws audiences into the true horror of the world of Lost Highway by putting them in his shoes.
Blue Velvet (7.8) – Frank Booth
Why are there people like Frank? Dennis Hopper one of the most sadistic and terrifying villains in the history of cinema. Aside from the iconic motifs of his gas tank, emotional instability, strange sense of humor, and split personalities, “Baby” and “Daddy,” Frank represents a different kind of antagonistic force for each of the lead characters, Jeffrey and Dorothy.
He sexually abuses both of them, but the way that he truly haunts Jeffrey is by getting him to succumb to his darkest impulses. Throughout the movie, Jeffrey begins to hate himself as he becomes more like Frank.
Mulholland Drive (8.0) – Diane Selwyn
The very best David Lynch movies take a couple of days to digest. Mulholland Drive represents the pinnacle of this. After the word “Silencio,” it takes a while to unravel the events that preceded and make sense of them.
A popular interpretation is that the first half of the movie is a dream and the second half represents reality crashing down. Diane Selwyn is the "real" version of wide-eyed Betty Elms, also played by Naomi Watts in a stellar star-making dual turn.
The Straight Story (8.0) – Alvin Straight
Although it’s often called David Lynch’s most conventional film, The Straight Story still has just as much ion and personality as the rest of the director’s filmography. It’s a biopic about the life of Alvin Straight, who drove a lawnmower across America to visit his sick brother.
Lynch brings an uplifting quality to Straight’s story, while Richard Farnsworth’s Oscar-nominated performance in the lead role is terrific.
The Elephant Man (8.1) – John Merrick
It may not seem like the kind of movie that David Lynch would direct, or the kind of movie that Mel Brooks would produce, but The Elephant Man is a tragic masterpiece due to the ion and tireless efforts of those two artists.
The most interesting character in The Elephant Man is its subject, John Merrick, played powerfully by John Hurt in one of the legendary actor’s all-time finest performances. His story teaches an important lesson about judging people.
