Wow. I was trying to keep track of the different levels of reality and gave up after six – and then realised that I was missing the point, and went instead with the flow of ax(x)on hopping through the Inland Empire. A remarkable performance from Laura Dern which was the only thing that kept it at all coherent, and a surprisingly positive and integrative ending which I loved.
Of course, it’s only really for Lynch fans, and if you haven’t already watched Mulholland Drive – preferably several times – then much of the texture of this film would be missed or misunderstood, as in many ways it is an extension of his quite savage critique of Hollywood explored there. For me a 5/5, for other, perhaps more normal people(!) no more than a 3 🙂
I saw this at the Sydney Film Festival a few years ago when it first came out and later tried to describe it to a non-Lynch fan as the most mindnumbingly brilliant three hours, or the most fascinatingly boring three hours they were likely to have that month.