[Black Lodge Day] Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)

Director: David Lynch

Cast: Sheryl Lee, Moira Kelly, David Bowie, Chris Isaak, Harry Dean Stanton, Ray Wise, Kyle MacLachlan, Madchen Amick

Screenplay: David Lynch, Robert Engels

134 mins. Rated R.

Today is a big day for Twin Peaks fans. Today is the official day that Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan, Inside Out, TV’s Carol’s Second Act) entered the Black Lodge on the television show. To celebrate that, I decided to revisit Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, the only official feature film for Twin Peaks, which followed the series as a sequel/prequel which covers a lot of the events leading up to the first episode while also setting the stage for what was to come in 2017’s revival series.

Fire Walk With Me dives deeper into several pivotal events in the larger Twin Peaks mythos, including the investigation into the death of Teresa Banks, the missing of several FBI agents, and the days leading to the death of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee, Vampires, Cafe Society) at the hands of the killer BOB.

Without a doubt, this is not a film for the uninitiated. This is a Twin Peaks film but this is not a good way to jump into the world of Twin Peaks. It’s constructed as the first in a potential series of films or possibly a trilogy, each one exploring the world and creating a conclusion. That in itself is a mistake that I made going into it. I had expected to find answers, and that’s not what David Lynch is all about. His films create more questions that provide answers, and the expectations that you will understand everything that happens in Twin Peaks the television series or Fire Walk With Me will lead you nowhere. It’s only if you sit back and drink in the experience of being in this world, it goes a lot better.

Sheryl Lee is pretty damn solid as Laura in this, her first real chance to play the character. Up to this point, she’s been a presence in Twin Peaks, but from the moment the first episode begins, Laura’s dead, so it’s nice to deep dive into the Laura’s mind, and the way she permeates the rest of the series. I really liked diving into her mind and the way she interacts with her father, Leland (Ray Wise, Batman: The Killing Joke, TV’s Fresh Off the Boat). Leland takes the death of Laura so painfully in the show that it is nice to dive further into that contentious relationship.

Outside of the Laura and BOB story, which I found quite interesting, I felt the absence of my personal favorite characters, like learning more about the fate of Dale Cooper or Pete Martell. I would’ve liked a few more minutes with the Horne family or perhaps Lucy Moran, but this narrative, for however unfocused it is, is intent on Laura, and in that arena, it shines.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is a frustrating experience upon first viewing, but allowing oneself to sink into its mystery and mysticism only furthers the emotional ride of Laura Palmer’s last days in a way that adds to the world of Twin Peaks, not in a story-furthering sense, but an emotional and spiritual-furthering sense. This one is for Lynch fans and specifically Twin Peaks fans only, all others need not apply. You probably wouldn’t know what the hell you were watching in the first place.

4/5

-Kyle A. Goethe