Blue Velvet

When shy, adolescent Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) returns home to Lumberton, he finds a severed ear in an overgrown backlot. Not satisfied with the pace of the police investigation, he and Sandy (Laura Dern), a detective's daughter, begin their own investigation. While Lumberton might seem the perfect example of small-town America, all white picket fences, behind closed doors things are very different.

To give away any more of the plot would be to ruin the movie; although nothing can quite prepare you for the force of some scenes. This is certainly not a movie for the faint of heart; where some directors would fade to black and let you imagine the worst, David Lynch has a stranger mind than most and doesn't hesitate to show you what lurks in its darkest recesses.

Powerful, challenging, and made with great skill, Blue Velvet is one of those films that will stay with you long after you leave the cinema. Not only does it raise questions about human sexuality, and human nature in general, it is a manifesto on the potential of cinema.

Alexandra Menkes