Mulholland Drive (2001)

Mulholland Drive is a 2001 mystery film written and directed by David Lynch. Its narrative is characterized by surrealist and neo-noir elements, and follows an aspiring actress (Naomi Watts) newly arrived in Los Angeles, where she befriends a car crash victim (Laura Harring) who is suffering from amnesia. Meanwhile, a Hollywood director (Justin Theroux) must deal with interference from the criminal underworld while casting his latest film.

The film was originally conceived as a television pilot for ABC, with footage shot and edited in 1999 as an open-ended mystery. After viewing Lynch's cut, however, ABC executives cancelled the proposed series. Lynch then secured funding from French production company StudioCanal to repurpose the footage into a film, for which he wrote an ending and filmed new material. The resulting film, edited and produced by Lynch's frequent collaborator (and briefly wife) Mary Sweeney, has left the story's events open to interpretation. Lynch's refusal to offer an explanation left audiences, critics, and even the film's own cast to speculate on its meaning. The film considerably boosted Watts' Hollywood profile and marked the last feature film role of veteran Hollywood star Ann Miller.

Mulholland Drive received critical acclaim, earning Lynch the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director. It was also a moderate commercial success, grossing $20.1 million on a budget of $15 million. It is frequently cited as one of the greatest films of the 2000s, the 21st century and among the best films of all time. The 2022 Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time critics' poll ranked it at No. 8, while the director's poll ranked it at No. 22. The BBC and IndieWire named it the best film of the 21st century, and the LA Film Critics Association listed it as the best film of the 2000s. In 2025, The New York Times ranked it at No. 2 on their list of the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century, while The Ringer named Watts' performance as the greatest of the 21st century.