I feel like the scary maze game trend would have been 10x scarier AND funnier if the Inland Empire face was used instead.

Okay, hear me out: I always loved Inland Empire. I felt like it was a love letter to the people who saw Twin Peaks material and identified Laura with their own sexual trauma. Not only that, but the trauma that layers on the performance. I felt like the crying girl and Laura Dern embracing was the traumatized performer and the IRL girl coming to terms through their horrifying trauma. But I watched this movie after the first time I was given oxycodone and I'm Polish so..yeah

Re: Rabbits, I would add that we use the expression "breeding like rabbits". Depicting a domestic situation with rabbits instead of humans is like reducing women and men to their reproductive roles. It's also filmed like a sitcom, with the production taking place in a a multi-cam live studio audience / theatrical set -- as if to suggest that the roles we see acted out on TV are often crude depictions of gender dynamics. And if we think about cinema and TV as a means of putting images out into the world, there is something reproductive about that. Stories beget more stories, often with the same tired tropes embedded, and they multiplly like rabbits.

I watched Inland Empire with a girlfriend who was planning on breaking up with me as soon as the movie was over, which was after midnight so I had to go home alone at 1 AM. I don't remember anything but the weird face and the rabbit costumes. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

One of Lynch's biographers offered the perspective that Inland Empire is very heavily influenced by his interest in Hinduism and specifically in the concept of karma, not in the pop culture sense but in the specific religious/philosophical sense of action and intent accumulating and transforming across different iterations of the self, and I think that this ties into the idea of metanarrative you put forward in a very logical and frankly illuminating way: Every story is a retelling, every life is relived, everything that is happening has happened before and will happen again. You can either let this crush you or let it liberate you.

I suddenly need a two and a half hour long video of May talking about Twin Peaks. Her way of analyzing is just soooo… it makes my brain vibrate like a purring cat, I love it

A moment of respect for the garbage pail kids poster just off screen

The fact that the narrative of the film is hard to parse somewhat invites us to ask whether a scene is Laura Dern herself, Laura Dern as Nikki, or Laura Dern as Nikki as Sue. But when you take a step back, at the end of the day it’s Laura Dern saying words in front of a camcorder, it is because we are affected by fiction to the point that it has some semblance of reality to us that we care to distinguish the levels of narrative at play. I have no idea if I’m making sense here, this is just a thought that entered my brain and I wanted to say

I will sincerely listen to ANY movie you talk about. Absolutely hypnotic voice and analysis

Man a essay video about Inland Empire that’s not 10 years old. I’m so glad people appreciate this movie it’s one of his best.

I love the rabbit portions of the movie, it's a whole standalone art film. I'm not kidding, I laughed and cried and was terrified by what I perceived was going on in that rabbit movie. I watched it without watching Inland Empire and therefore I had a much different experience with it, but I'm just super invested in the rabbit family satanic sitcom.

Gosh, no one does it like May. Could listen to her talk about stuff for hours. Thank you for the super interesting video and congrats on the new book!!

I am literally reeling cuz not even a week ago I tried to look up "Nyx Fears Inland Empire" to see if May had anything to say on this weird ass movie but of course there was nothing. Apollo hit me with the gift of prophecy ig

I always thought the girls that show up were previous victims either of the curse or just violence from men. The scene where they're talking about "him" to me was them talking about their own partners--the Platonic Abusive Partner, the man every girl thought was a good person "Until", basically. They function like a chorus and they're all either dead or trapped in the curse--obviously the literal part is less important but I felt like they usually came along with death or the otherworldliness. Then in the end credits where all the women are dancing is kind of a sign that the curse either has passed over the intended victims or has been lifted--I don't think it's the same group of women exactly, but if I remember correctly the girls had been kind of musically connected, too. So they're kind of like... Both like a Greek chorus in helping to tell the narrative, existing as a group, being musically related, but they're also like grouped together as victims of domestic violence or the literal cursed narrative. That was the one part that made me very certain about most of the stuff May has said--tale as old as time, reality and fiction influencing each other back and forth, the idea of a curse being a story that effects reality... Makes me think of killers who famously liked or were obsessed with some pop culture thing like Catcher in the Rye or a metal band, like we used to actually castigate the work itself before realizing how wild it is to think about creating something and some fucking horrible evil person watches it and is like "I love this main character" or worse, "This antagonist is so cool." Like I think Lynch like many of us can appreciate the horror of someone quoting a movie as they stab you, right? You'd be like "Fucking seriously?" but also like... it wouldn't feel as sincere, like this person is hiding behind fictionalized violence to make themselves feel better about the real violence they inflict. FTR, it also makes me think of "The Body Electric" by Hurray for the Riff Raff cuz it's a song about how many blues songs there are about men killing women and how it's reflective of real world violence--it is the song version of this movie, go watch the music video if you wanna cry. It's the power of stories having an influence even on people who end up doing bad things, and the worst thought which is potentially influencing someone to do the bad thing without intending to influence anyone to do anything bad. It's kind of a nightmare scenario as a writer--so I kinda figured the curse was like... It's the characters repeating the actions of the story cuz you absolutely don't want to find yourself in the middle of a story, that means bad things will happen. That part was obvious to me--the curse wasn't gonna be anything except "Oh, the story is about murder, and people get murdered in the curse? Yeah got it." That's just text, 100%, and it's wild to know... There's people who missed that text who have interpretations. I'm fine with that, I can take it on the chin, but it is patently wild the one theory I'm thinking of: Laura Dern's character? That scary face? Well that's just her trying to regain her lost stardom and youthful beauty! Wow, literally where in the entire fuck did they pull that out from??? But interesting nonetheless that someone can watch this for three hours and take their own analysis very very dead seriously, enough to make a video essay announcing that was their interpretation--don't go looking for it. It's like Laura Dern's face where you're not gonna get it out of your head when you see someone interpret Inland Empire. The same person also had a wild take on Mulholland Drive, I just luckily don't remember it because he actually caught on that it was about the "casting couch" so to speak, it was just missing the empathy part of that interpretation I'm pretty certain. I think part of my ease is that I write, do visual art, and more importantly have had a psychotic break where I couldn't tell reality from fiction/dreaming. I personally think psychosis is the brain's failure to realize that you're awake and not dreaming, so it still receives things like hallucinations, which is basically what happens to you when you dream--your delusions are your brain trying to make up for that slack, cuz it's like... You don't notice the feeling until something gets triggered, and that's when your brain has to start explaining why exactly you're hearing voices and stuff. In my experience, I just took it as my own thoughts--it was only when the psychosis got worse that the voices separated from my inner dialogue because oh fuckin boy, they talked up a storm, faster than anyone else's inner monologue ever could. It's intense stuff so I love Lynch's work for being like... it makes people besides me say "They know they're on a TV show!" or some of the wild metanarrative stuff in Inland Empire, like I very easily understood Twin Peaks quite simply because I was psychotic when I first watched it... So when certain stuff happened I just had the craziest weirdest but still very much an intuition based analysis of what happened--"Ah, clearly they are having psychic premonitions" was a very easy jump for me to make, basically. It's literally comforting to have work that puts words to a feeling that things aren't real or put visuals to feelings that are hard to name and his work does that for me.

I hope this isn’t too parasocial but I missed you 😭 I just finished rewatching your nsfl iceberg yesterday because I love the sentiments you share at the end and I was hoping you would upload again soon. Your commentary is some of my favorite on this website!!

With the rabbit thing, when I think about it compared to some of the themes of David Lynch's films (and capitalism in the U.S.), rabbits seem to have more in common with humans than any other animal. Human beings are easily (understandably) frightened by the world, breed without much thought or consideration to bringing a whole-ass human into the world (Eraserhead), and are constantly exploited in virtually everything they do (animal testing, and the exploitation themes in Inland Empire -- which seems to focus a lot on how exploited actors are, but so is everyone who puts themselves out in public in any way). We're constantly pressured to keep going, keep making money, at an alarming rate that seems so fast that, like a car crash, we don't realized it's happened until it's over (the "quickness" of a rabbit). Overall, we are overwhelmed, scared, used, and ignorant. Like rabbits in a lab.

My computer glitched out right as the clip of Laura walking towards the camera started in the scary face clip so I got WAY MORE TERRIFIED than the original clip would have ever intended

Nyx, the scary face in Inland Empire is a reflection of Laura's face, as if looking into a mirror like the Tibetan book of the dead states as part of the process of reincarnating.

Ooo, May talking about Lynch? Hell yeah! I'm definitely in the love David Lynch but are perfectly comfortable not having any clue what's going on. We did watch parties for The Return and at one point someone asked what was going on, I immediately shouted back "I don't watch David Lynch to understand things! I watch David Lynch to feel uncomfortable and confused!"

It’s like being trapped in a dream and then realizing that all the women who’ve had the same dream are with you in it. Switches between that and then being a profoundly lonely and scary experience.

THAT FACE is still one of my favourite jumpscares ever!

I felt cursed after this film. It was a time when I was having all kinds of synchronicity anyway. So odd. Glad to see your face again!

I am going to be real, I have never watched the movie, I just really like hearing you talk about narratives as you bring such passion to it!

SHES BACK WITH WHAT WE NEED

May, i think you're fantastic, and I'm glad to see you discussing my personal favorite work of Lynch's. BUT did you have feature so prominently the most terrifying bit of imagery ever? I jump scared when I scrolled past the thumbnail!

I watched this movie with me best friend on last years Halloween on one sitting, by the halfway point we started to feel like reality itself was getting melty, and when THAT FACE appeared on screen we screamed then proceeded to laugh like maniacs for a few minutes. 10/10, closest thing to taking LSD laced with cocaine and starting to chew on the walls XD

I often have dreams where I participate in the stuff that's happening, but then it turns out to have been a movie I was watching. When that actually happens in films, I have to check to see if I'm really awake.

Also your take on films always has me absolutely mesmerized and opens my mind to a whole other perspective that has made me enjoy films way way more, so thanks for that.

Inland Empire being my first David Lynch movie at 19 explains way too much about me

I feel like I understand that skill from Disco Elysium better now

One of my favorite movies of all time. I love it with all my heart and brains

Inland Empire and Beau is Afraid back-to-back viewing. Any other 3hr "art pieces that move you in *a* direction" to add?

God, I had to watch this video while covering half my screen to avoid looking at the phantom. I saw the movie once and nothing has scared me as much as that uncanny, superimposed face. I guess I could use this video to overcome my fear of this image at least. Thanks for the wonderful analysis!

seeing inland empire at the ifc center last year was one of the top ten experiences of my life

“It blurs the line between what’s happening and what’s not happening, but either way they do do the locomotion”

I saw on Twitter that you get a ton of gross comments on your videos so I just wanna say this video is great, I love listening to you speak about movies, and your hair is looking fabulous.

I clicked on this video and immediately got an email back from the local clinic to (hopefully) start the process of getting hormones it’s not relevant i just liked the serendipity

So, in short, David Lynch movies are a lot like having a dream about your crazy aunt a few days before you've told your crazy aunt that you're going to come visit. Somewhere, in the back of your mind, you've thought about her, and then the dream is a projection of that subconscious thought. And the next day, when you think about it, you're analyzing why you had that dream in the first place, and there both IS and ISN'T a deeper reason as to why you dreamt about your aunt.

I feel like film studies in college would've been a lot better if may was my prof

"you've probably seen the movie if you've clicked on this video" david lynch movies give me amnesia so I can't really say if I have

It was my first David Lynch movie, and I was honestly surprised I went back to his work

I really think the second half does a poor job of establishing the new life and dynamic. Like it’s still super fun as things get more weird and terrifying (especially that scene, you know the one) but every time I show Inland to my friends they always check out a few minutes after the transition. I don’t think it’s because it’s too surreal or abstract, I think it’s just genuinely confusing who the new characters are and what there relationship is suppose to be and it doesn’t help that it’s already a decent ways through the movie.

the video hasnt even started yet and i am SHRIEKING AND THROWING UP thank u may

Got big time Quiznos Subs vibes from that creepy face the first time I watched this flick.

I love this video and have nothing smart to say about it. But I was watching this on my second monitor and every time I ooked over and saw that goddamn face it jumpscared me like I was some kind of horror goldfish, incapable of remembering.

Always love it when you talk about Lynch and I would be so so happy if you released more videos analyzing his work! ❤ Another great video as always, May 😊

"It's both esoteric and direct" Oh man, that's spot on!

YEAH!!!!!! If there's any person I wanna hear talk about inland empire it's May

You just unlocked a memory of me going to raves around the year 2000 or so in London and there used to always to be a guy handing out flyers saying each flyer had a hit of acid on it. Good times

OTHER PEOPLE: "That face is so horrifying!" ME: "Hey anyone remember those Quiznos commercials from some years back?" Also, yes please talk about all the David Lynch movies.

I heard the Inland Empire, Mulholland Drive, and Lost Highway are part of a lose trilogy in the same universe. I don't know how true this is

I remember for a while I didn't understand how actors don't get attached to their roles or have some kind of identity disorder

In terms of the movie not making sense (I'm sure YOU know this, so this info is primarily for the other viewers), part of the reason for that is because David Lynch also wanted to experiment with not having a script when making this film. So every scene was conceived of pretty much the day, at most a week, before filming it; unlike his previous films where he rigorously focussed on the script before going into production. So what ended happening was, at the end of making this film, Lynch discovered he didn't like that approach because he felt like there wasn't much intentionality or depth to the film beyond being an experiment. Thus, while he continues to shoot on digital, he decided unscripted filmmaking wasn't for him and opted to go back to scripted works.

Yay! A new May video!

This is his best (most precise) film in my opinion. Hypnosis is the recurring theme here. There are a lot of important details that you can mistake for imperfections due to the video quality. One cue is the scene of misunderstanding between the director and Bucky J played by David Lynch. There is a squeal of the door as the old witch enters the house and says hello. A bird flies right above as Nikki enters the studios. And so on and so on. BTW I hated it the first time I saw it.

Babe wake up new nyx fears video dropped

i love it when you talk about lynch im so excited

may posting opinions on movies is always queen shit

2:08 ngl May, i _haven't_ seen this movie lmao, i just really like listening to you talk about these things which you find interesting, because you're very good at talking about stuff and have clearly spent a lot of time forming your opinions on the things you talk about and find interesting. 💯

I just wanted to say I'm so glad you are doing more film analysis! This is my favorite sort of video you make

I think even the title Inland Empire is reflective of how the movie is about these deeper and darker narratives that we often try to hide from ourselves bit live in core of our inner beings. Our Inland Empires.

May Lynch discusses David Leitz's film Inland Empire

Inland Empire is The Phenomenology of Spirit of cinema

yesssss my favourite movie ever thank you for this

I love your analysis and buy into a lot of your points. The burning a hole through silk: back in the days of film there used to be a little mark in the corner of the screen to tell the projectionist to change reels called a cigarette burn. Every time they do the hole in silk thing, the story advances, kind of like changing reels. I think this backs up the metanarrative interpretation. Only one thing I might disagree on… I think the girl in the room is the woman in trouble, not Laura Dern. The way I see it, none of the Lauras are actually “real.” The story resolves, indicated by Laura and the WiT embracing, and she gets the emotional release that let’s her out of her room. It’s been a while since I last watched IE, but I remember it being something I thought about for weeks.

hi may i loved your book so much i think you are awesome and it was such a great cerebral mindfuck like you literally killed it girl. total fan now. ily

I locked eyes with Laura Dern in the background and after half an hour I'm too scared to look away

Hey, it's good to see you!

A video from my favorite youtuber about my favorite movie has got to be the best thing to come out the day after my 21st birthday. Thank you May❤️

I am bad at getting David Lynch so thank you for walking me through this.

In Twin Peaks, a grown man honks the nose of another grown man he's barely just met. This is responded to with a warm grin. I will never know why. Inland Empire is alot of that vibe.

after seeing this movie (for the second time) in a theater while on mushrooms, and from what i know about Lynch and his devout spirituality, Inland Empire struck me as a film about the karmic cycle of death and rebirth.

Thank you! Whenever you discuss a film or a book, I walk away with both a new understanding and so much more to think about. Making people think is your superpower.

how did 40+ minutes go by so fast. hypnotic

i'VE NEVER HEARD OF IT, BUT THIS IS WHY i'M HERE. bECAUSE YOU BRING ME WONDERFUL THINGS. sORRY, i HAD MY CAPS LOCK ON BY ACCIDENT AND i REFUSE TO TURN IT OFF. 💛

J O K E R S T R I C K !

I always love getting a new Lynch video from you

I'd always thought that rabbits to Lynch are always about TV, like rabbit ear antennas. And each of these rabbits is kind of its own TV set, playing a different show. When the flame is lit, (and in the webseries, the horrific creature shows up and starts incanting at them), that could be whoever's in charge of TV issuing new content for the TV's, and the guy rabbit is holding up two electric lights to receive the electrical signal.

Love the new video! Really enjoyed the in depth take on Inland Empire

i watched inland empire just last year, that day also was had the first storm of the rain season, and it was a 4 hour long Big Fucking Storm that had ppl trapped outside at late night hours. fortunately i was at home, but not so fortunately because it was my fourth year of being a shut-in but a really deep within it shut-in and with a bad mental state all around. i'm doing much better nowadays, i can even look fondly to the specific day in which i watched this 3 hour long dream in a screen followed by the hugest storm just outside the walls i stared at everyday for like 16 hours or so and little else, again, maybe i can do so because i wasn't out there in the middle of darkness and water at the same time but hey, what a way to make extra sure inland empire gets lodged into my brain, yeah, what a special movie.

Loved this. Discovered the channel from the Eraserhead analysis years ago

May, I need an hour long dissertation on David Lynch’s “The Straight Story”. 😂

my prof showed us this movie in intro to film and at one point we were all asleep - I was out 4 half an hour but I don't think that changed the viewing experience at all. great movie

hi I love your videos and also that's a very cool checkered mug you have!

I used to hate this film until I figured out what it was about. In the late 19th century/early 20th century, The Phantom and the Lost Girl were an item. The Phantom was a physically and mentally abusive husband which resulted in the Lost Girl seeking refuge in the arms of a lover. Her lover, however, was also married and had a son. When the Phantom (who is shown to have mystical powers that stem from an old Polish Gypsy curse) learns of this, he hypnotizes the lover’s wife into killing him and then herself with a screwdriver. He then banishes the Lost Girl to Limbo (symbolized by the hotel room we see her in at the beginning) and forces her to watch the story of her life unfold and the pain her infidelity caused him. He also curses the Lost Girl’s lover into reincarnating time and again in the role of a husband being betrayed by his wife so he can feel what the Phantom felt. The lover’s latest reincarnation sees him in the role of Laura Dern’s abusive Polish husband. It is mentioned that the film is cursed which may play into the mystical powers that the Phantom has. So when Nikki cheats on her husband with Devon, the husband has to experience the pain of his wife’s infidelity again, and then Nikki gets sucked into the world of the film and the story plays out as it does. The Rabbits are a supernatural force that seem to want to stop the Phantom and do so at the end by providing Nikki with a gun to kill the Phantom at the end. When the Phantom dies, the Lost Girl is freed from her imprisonment in Limbo/the hotel room and returns to the arms of her lover (now reincarnated as Nikki’s Polish husband) who is also freed from the curse and they’re both able to live together with their son. There is definitely the whole film within a film going on but the constant cutaways to old Poland in which we learn about the Phantom and the Lost Girl reaffirm my belief that this is a film ultimately about reincarnation and being trapped in a never ending loop until outside forces intervene. Just my two cents. :)

Fantastic video

I just love Inland Empire because it feels the most like a night of dreaming of any film I've ever seen besides Kurosawa's Dreams.

Girl i missed you sm im so happy you uploaded

Taylor Lautner in Sky Kids voice: dream dream dream dream dream dream…

so happy to see your face again!!! wishing good vibes for you friend!

AMAZING! haven't actually watched the video yet, but I know this will be a great review! She was one of few people smart enough to understand and appreciate the holy mountain, i expect the same for this surreal masterpiece!

A movie thats like “what if David Lynch really liked trashhumpers”

have ever seen this one but i would listen to you talk about literally anything. also it’s david lynch so bound to be interesting 😂

ihave a photocard of the crazy neighbor lady on my fridge

I've watched and read so many of these inland empire explained and the only thing you all agree on is that a lady is in trouble but i got that from the tag line

I have never seen anything by David Lynch but this has taught me he is a silly goofy little guy

syi love ur takes on movoes/ literature it gets me so excited to talk abt media i love w my friends and family and i hope to see more hot takes!

Fantastic fucking video, thank you KZfaq for still throwing videos about this movie my way. I love watching smaller channels do absolutely kick ass analysis of media.

I really liked Inland Empire, it scared the shit out of me (I don't really know why...). I like watching by brain making total sense when I watch a Lynch movie, somehow I can easily tell you the whole story. No one agrees with my storyline, that is of course normal, that's just my brain actually telling me a story. ❤

Why is this thumbnail/poster image so incomprehensibly horrifying