Lost Highway

How this film uses it

The film opens with Fred hearing 'Dick Laurent is dead' over his intercom, and it closes with Fred saying the same line into the intercom himself. The repeat suggests he is stuck in a loop he can't escape. What you thought was a crime story becomes a trap.

Where to see it

The intercom line. It opens the film, and Fred speaks it again at the end before running from the police.

How this film uses it

Fred's wife Renee has a double in Alice, the mistress of the gangster Mr. Eddy, and Fred has a double in Pete, a young mechanic. Each double acts out what the original can't face. Pete gets the life of confident desire that Fred has lost.

Where to see it

The cabin scene. After Pete and Alice have sex in the desert, she says 'you'll never have me' and vanishes inside. Pete turns back into Fred.

How this film uses it

You can't tell whether Fred is really sent to death row, imagining another life or both. Lynch never says. He lets the film leave you as lost as Fred is.

Where to see it

Fred on death row. He has headaches and visions of a pale man, then he is replaced in his cell by Pete.

How this film uses it

The change from Fred to Pete was done with a fake head and shots of the actor, with no digital effects. The practical look makes the shift feel physical and wrong. You see a body come apart on set.

Where to see it

The death row transformation. Fred is wrapped in light, and the guards find a different man, Pete, in his cell.