[Triphibian]

I'm gonna say start with Blue Velvet. It still has the backbone of a classical noir, but it is completely run through with the character of his work. Mulholland Drive reflects the apex of his vision and talents, but there's a learning curve to appreciating it.

[crispyambulance]

Elephant Man is perhaps the most approachable. Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt are at the apex of their acting careers in this film.

After that Mullholland Drive is absolutely brilliant and has that unforgettable masterpiece diner scene: https://youtu.be/UozhOo0Dt4o?si=GedzAdMh0KIXoHz4

[itsmemattchung]

Okay. not knowing anything about this film, not ever hearing or seeing it, I just clicked on that diner scene and holy f*ck, that was terrifying. and thank you :)

[ascagnel_]

It's a jump scare that works incredibly well, yet it's shot in slow-motion and lit to full daylight, two things anathema to jump scares.

[jrace]

I would say that A Straight Story is even more approachable.

If you didn't know it was by Lynch you would never suspect it.

[mortenjorck]

On the other end, save Inland Empire for after you've seen a lot of his filmography and are in the mood for a challenge.

I wouldn't call it his best work, but it is Lynch at his most singular and uncompromising.

[ljm]

I would put Twin Peaks: The Return up there too. Beneath the trademark surrealism and whimsy there’s an intense, bittersweet profoundness.

It was the last thing he made for TV/cinema and for me feels like the culmination of everything he did before it.

[JKCalhoun]

> Lynch at his most singular and uncompromising

More so than "Eraserhead"?

[imbnwa]

The Sekiro of Lynch movies. I was defeated by the first dance routine.

[butterisgood]

Other than the 1980's Dune movie he directed, I think it was either Lost Highway or Mulholland Drive that made me want to know more about David Lynch.

I had to watch Mulholland Drive at least 5 times to get a sense of what it's even about, and I think I must have been the audience for which he made that film, if it wasn't indeed just art to make himself happy (which is the BEST kind).

Anyway, it kind of endears another person to you when you connect with their work. So this one hit kind of hard.

I lost a fellow weirdo, and he'll be missed!

[signalToNose]

Wild at heart. Very approachable, but gory and brutal. The angst seep trough

[werdnapk]

Mulholland Drive was my first Lynch movie and led me to watch pretty much everything else he released. I'd still start with Mulholland Drive if I started over again I think.

[xivusr]

The lipstick scene. There should be an emoji for that.

[adamc]

Nooooo, not Blue Velvet. That's on my "never watch again" list, because the people in it are so creepy I wanted to just go buy a million guns afterwards.

[noisem4ker]

I feel the same. If Blue Velvet was the first Lynch movie I saw, I surely wouldn't have bothered with the rest, and I would have missed out on what I now consider one of my absolute favorites (Mulholland Drive). Same goes for Eraserhead and Wild at Heart.

[dalmo3]

It was my first, and I didn't bother with the rest.

There's just something in it that made me viscerally hate it, and I'm usually fond of surreal movies.

[adamc]

It's worth giving Mulholland Drive a look. And the Elephant Man and The Straight Story are nothing like Blue Velvet.

[JKCalhoun]

Agree about "Blue Velvet" — too much Dennis Hopper, ha ha. Also agree the "Mulholland Drive" is a masterpiece.

[zug_zug]

Literally just watched it today and it's definitely in my 10 least favorite movies I've ever watched. Wish I had seen your comment.

[emmelaich]

But it's also so beautiful; Laura Dern's character is so touching and Kyle McLachlan playing the naif in a world of evil is so moving.

And when they dance together at the end with "Mysteries of Love" playing - wow.