If you’re one of the many folks who flocked to see Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3, you no doubt wiped away a tear or ten when you watched Rocket Raccoon’s tragic backstory play out. But, is his origin the most traffic MCU Original of them all? Indeed, the MCU has dominated cinema for the past decade and a half and has given audiences some of the most memorable on-screen moments in history. Fans have developed close personal relationships with the heroes and characters to the point that they feel as if they’re real people existing in the real world. While that may not be true, it’s still a testament to how emotionally powerful the MCU has become that it allows audiences to empathize and care about completely fictional beings.

In that light, part of being a hero (and part of what we love and empathize the most with them) is that it inherently comes with sacrifice, and because of this some heroes end up having rougher upbringings than others. That reality especially holds true for the heroes of the MCU as the majority of them have all suffered through hardships in order to become the heroes that fans love. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at which of our beloved MCU heroes have had the hardest journeys right from the very beginning.

Honorable Mentions

As mentioned, the vast majority of MCU heroes all have some sort of tragic origin story – again, being a hero inherently comes with sacrifice. Remarkably, nearly all of these tragic origin stories can be broken down into four specific categories – captured/kidnapped, tortured/experimented on, loved ones dead/killed, and mind-controlled. Because of this system, we’ll be breaking down the worst scenarios of these categories that have happened to MCU heroes rather than covering every last one of them.

Spider-Man – everyone’s favorite web-slinger may be the epitome of “being a hero requires sacrifice” due to his being an orphan and the inevitable death of Uncle Ben, and it absolutely is a tragic origin story. But the reality of the MCU is that there are several other characters who have for more tragic beginnings than Peter Parker, a child genius who was given access to Stark tech at age 15.

America Chavez – the multiverse jumper could have also potentially made the list, but unfortunately we still don’t know a whole lot about her origins – all we know is that she got stung by a bee and it scared her so much that she blasted her parents through a multiverse-portal. However, if her parents turn out to be alive and well, her origins become far less tragic.

Eternals – super-powered beings that were created for the sole purpose of protecting planets that were ultimately doomed in order for more Celestials to be born. Say what you will, but being created and forced to live for thousands upon thousands of years, making countless relationships with people you protect on a daily basis, all for the sake of that planet being destroyed because of your efforts, is indeed tragic.

Tony Stark – to be fair, Tony could have easily made this list. He was captured and tortured and forced to build the very first Iron Man suit from a box of scraps while he watched Yinsen die while aiding his escape. That being said, he was also a playboy genius who was born into a well-off family and sold weapons that made it into the hands of terrorists and was initially only motivated by atoning for said mistake so…

Silvie – the Loki variant who is arguably the most responsible for the multiverse being completely out of whack is somehow almost justified. Sylvie may have plunged her dagger into He Who Remains’ chest, but she was also kidnapped as a child by the TVA with absolutely no explanation as to why, followed by her entire timeline (and everyone she knew and loved) getting pruned. Screwing up the entire multiverse may have been taking her revenge a step too far, but again, we get it.

Natasha & Yelena – anybody who knows anything about the Red Room and the Black Widow Program knows exactly how horrific and tragic Natasha and Yelena’s origins truly are. Add the bonus of Natasha and Yelena living the first several years of their lives acting like a happy family before being thrust into the program, and the only silver lining is that the two became the most bad-ass assassins in MCU history.

Peter Quill – the most tragic honorable mention undoubtedly goes to Star-Lord who honestly could make the official list. He watched his mother die from cancer as a child, only to be immediately kidnapped by Yondu and the Ravagers. The worst part is that Quill’s story has only gotten more tragic as he had to kill his father for killing his mother, followed by watching Yondu and Gamora die. At least Qull is finally trying to spend some family time with his Grandpa.

Scarlet Witch

The true first on our list of the most tragic origin stories shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch has been a fan-favorite character in the MCU since her very first appearance. Unfortunately, one of the reasons she became an instant fan-favorite was because audiences could empathize with the pain and suffering that she had already endured at such a young age. She and her twin brother, Pietro, were forced to watch their parents die in a firebombing that ultimately almost cost them their own lives.

Of course the tragedy doesn’t end there as Wanda and Pietro then sacrificed themselves to become weapons of HYDRA in order to stop Tony Stark and the Avengers (the ones they held responsible for their parents deaths). They were tortured and experimented on using the Mind Stone, and while they did ultimately obtain super powers, it eventually came at the cost of Pietro’s life when they chose to ally with the Avengers and stop Ultron. Wanda’s story has only gotten harder since her earliest days, but it’s easy to to understand how her origin story is one of the most tragic in the MCU.

Bucky/The Winter Soldier

A list of MCU tragedies couldn’t exist without including the Winter Soldier. Bucky Barnes was Steve Rogers best friend and second-in-command during World War II, and seemingly met his end during their missions together when he plummeted to his death in a frozen tundra. Miraculously, Bucky survived the fall, but sadly fell into the hands of HYDRA and was tortured/experimented on by Arnim Zola. These experiments did conclude with Bucky becoming a super soldier in his own right, equipped with a nearly indestructible metal arm, but came at a hefty price.

Still held captive by HYDRA, Bucky was turned into the world’s greatest ghost-assassin, responsible for countless murders since the 1940s and obtaining the alias as The Winter Soldier in the process. In order for this process to continue, Bucky routinely had his brain turned into mush so that he would be easier to control and manipulate. Horrifically this went on all the way until Bucky was finally cured from the mind-control thanks to Shuri and the Wakandans, finally allowing Bucky to shed his murderous past. While The Winter Soldier may arguably have the greatest redemption arc in the MCU, it’s unquestionable that his origin story is a tragic one.

Nebula & Gamora

Picture Natasha and Yelena, and then make it way worse. While the Black Widow sisters were close to making this list, the daughters of Thanos completely blow them out of the water when it comes to tragic backstories. Most of Nebula’s origin story hasn’t been officially shown on the big screen, but audiences got to see exactly what Gamora went through during a flashback scene in Infinity War. In essence, Thanos was carrying out his plan of wiping out half of existing life when he came across Gamora’s home planet – he took her away from her parents, made her his adoptive daughter, and then proceeded to slaughter half the population (most likely including Gamora’s parents). Unfortunately, Gamora’s origins only become worse when she ultimately is killed by Thanos for the Soul Stone, simply because she was the only thing he ever loved. Kidnapped, turned into a weapon, then killed for it – that’s tragic.

Nebula’s origins may not have appeared on screen yet, but that doesn’t mean that fans haven’t been told how graphic and horrific her upbringing was. Just like Gamora, Nebula was taken by Thanos and became his adoptive daughter. Unfortunately, Nebula didn’t make Thanos as proud as Gamora did and he eventually replaced her entire organic body with machinery to try and make her a more deadly weapon. Technically it worked, as Nebula is an incredibly formidable foe, but that doesn’t make the origin story of being kidnapped and turned into a machine any less tragic.

Rocket Raccoon

The Guardians of the Galaxy can’t catch a break when it comes to how they became heroes. By far the most tragic origin story of the MCU (and arguably any other movie in history) is that of Rocket Raccoon. Beginning life as a defenseless fury creature on Earth, Rocket was captured by the High Evolutionary, along with a surplus of other creatures, and had torturous experiments done on him repeatedly. The process evolved Rocket from a simple raccoon into one of the smartest beings in the entire universe, but obviously came at the price of being torn apart and put back together over and over again.

Not only were these procedures graphic and inhumane, but salt was just added to the wound when Rocket became friends with the other creatures the High Evolutionary was experimenting on and learned that all of them were marked for death. In an attempt to escape, Rocket nearly freed himself and his friends (Lyla, Teefs and Floor), only to watch them all die at the hands of their creator. Again, all of these MCU heroes have had rough roads to travel and their origins are all far from happy, but there’s just something about capturing, experimenting on, and torturing a poor defenseless animal that makes Rocket’s origins story the most tragic in the entire MCU.

Nintendo is no slouch when it comes to pleasing the general public with content as they’ve been one of the largest names in the video game universe for several decades, but now that success has finally transferred over to cinema. The Super Mario Bros Movie debuted back in early April and the studio-heads at Universal and Illumination held their breath as they waited to see whether or not the movie would draw crowds – they didn’t have to hold their breath for very long. The film became an instant success among critics and at the box office as it has already raked in over $1 billion worldwide making it the most profitable movie based on a video game of all time, as well as the fifth most profitable animated movie of all time, and the current most profitable movie of 2023.

Before the movie released, Nintendo was careful not to comment on any plans for future movies as they committed solely to focusing on The Super Mario Bros Movie being a success. But now that the film has already crossed the billion dollar mark at the box office, it means more sequels are coming. In fact, video game creator and Nintedo director Shigeru Miyamoto recently confirmed that there is absolutely “no doubt” that more adaptions are planned for the future.

But now the question fans will be asking is which Nintendo property will be getting a movie next? The video game conglomerate has dozens upon dozens of properties and characters to choose from and just like with The Super Mario Bros Movie the fan base is already built right in. So, all of that being said, let’s look into which Nintendo characters we’ll hopefully be seeing on the big screen in the near future.

The Legend of Zelda

This one is a no brainer. Behind the Mario Bros and Pokemon (we’ll cover them next) the Legend of Zelda is Nintendo’s third largest property with a massive fanbase and established lore. The franchise has had over a dozen games released since the original in 1986 with the most recent game, Tears of the Kingdom, being arguably the most anticipated game release of the year.

The game itself follows the fan-favorite character known as Link as he travels and traverses the kingdom of Hyrule until he’s powerful enough to save the captured Princess Zelda. With the success that the games have faced, there’s no reason that a movie couldn’t achieve the same accomplishments that The Super Mario Bros Movie has, with the only potential speed-bump being that the movie would arguably follow the same plot as the The Super Mario Bros Movie (main character saves a captured princess from a force of evil).

Pokemon

As previously stated, Pokemon is easily Nintendo’s largest property. As a matter of fact, it’s the largest established IP in the entire world with the franchise stretching far beyond video games with several motion pictures over the last two and a half decades. So, logically, it would make sense for Nintendo to want to keep riding that train and quickly get a Pokemon movie into production. Unfortunately, it might not be that simple.

While a Pokemon movie made by Universal and Illumination would undoubtedly be a success, it would cause some potential collision among studios and projects. We already mentioned that Pokemon has created a few movies in the past, including 2019’s Detective Pikachu which has announced that a sequel is in the works with Legendary Pictures. Not only that, but Netflix is also making Pokemon content with plans for a stop-motion anime and a live-action series having been announced. So, while it would be a profitable and logical move for Universal and Illumination to create a Pokemon movie, the timing might not be right and it could be better served to wait a few years before attempting it.

Kirby, Yoshi, Metroid, Star Fox

After the Mario Bros, Pokemon, and The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo still has dozens of potential properties and characters to choose from, but the popularity does drop off significantly after the top 3. That being said, it doesn’t mean that these other properties couldn’t head their own movies as they’ve established that they can easily hold their own when it comes to video game franchises.

One franchise that Nintendo could choose to explore is Yoshi, the green dinosaur-like character – he’s a fan-favorite and has incredibly close ties to the Mario Bros which would allow Universal and Illumination to build on the cinematic world that they already created with The Super Mario Bros Movie. A few other potential, fan-favorite options could be Metroid, Kirby, or even Star Fox as each has built up the reputation to be able to lead their own movie franchise. In fact, while it could be a little controversial and out-there, a movie about one of their more recent games like Animal Crossing could potentially appeal to their younger fan base. That said, since these properties are still on the lesser-known side, it might be smart to hold off on making them until after a Pokemon or Zelda movie, because ultimately they should all be leading up to…

Super Smash Bros

A Super Smash Bros Movie. Let’s be honest, this is what we all are hoping and praying happens, even if it doesn’t come for several years. With the resounding success of The Super Marios Bros Movie, it doesn’t just mean that fans should expect a sequel – it means that Universal and Illumination have created the next cinematic universe. With all of the established IP that Nintendo brings to the table, along with all of the fan-favorite characters that we’ve listed above, it’s only logical that a shared cinematic universe between these characters be the ultimate endgame. And, luckily, Nintendo already has a video game where these characters interact – enter Super Smash Bros.

While not following any direct lore, Super Smash Bros is arguably one of Nintendo’s most popular games of all time with the only attribute being the ability to pit all of Nintendo’s vast variety of characters against each other in melee-style arena-fights… and fans of Nintendo have been begging for a proper cinematic rendition for ages. All of this being said, if this is Nintendo’s ultimate endgame, then a Super Smash Bros movie shouldn’t be coming to theaters anytime soon as properties like The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon should get established movies first (just like Marvel did with the MCU).

Super Mario Bros Spin-Off

Even though fans might be looking to see which property Nintendo brings to the big screen next, the company might choose to just build on the success of The Super Mario Bros Movie and make a spin off based on one of the already established characters. After all, Charlie Day (who voiced Luigi) has already expressed his interest in doing a Luigi spin off movie, admitting that he’d be interested in a Luigi’s Mansion concept. Along with Day expressing his interest in a spin off, Seth Rogen (who voiced Donkey Kong) has commented on how he’d love to do a movie set around the concept of Donkey Kong Island. Last but not least could be a movie following Bowser, especially since we’re currently living in an era where movies and shows about the villains instead of the heroes do resoundingly well. So, while fans might be expecting a movie like Zelda or Pokemon to come next, don’t be surprised if the studio takes the safe route on the way to making more movies and goes with a direct spin off first.

Super Mario Bros Sequel

If a spin off is in the cards, then a direct sequel absolutely is. Again, Nintendo is an incredibly smart company that knows how to appeal to it’s many different fan bases and they probably have a very large, and very long plan for the movies they’re going to be making next. That means that, while movies like Zelda or Pokemon are definitely on their radar and marked for future projects, it doesn’t necessarily mean that those will be the next movies we see them make.

So, with the success that the first film has seen, it wouldn’t be illogical to assume that a direct sequel would be Nintendo’s next move. After all, the Mario Bros are a huge franchise with a vast array of characters that could easily fit into a sequel. In fact, Jack Black (the voice of Bowser) stated that he would love it if the studio would do a sequel with the characters Wario and Warluigi being the villains, and even went so far as to say that he wants actor Pedro Pascal to voice one of said characters. A sequel would also be a great way to bring in more established characters like Yoshi and give them stepping stones to their own solo projects. Either way, regardless of what Nintendo’s next movie will be, it’s safe to say that audiences will be lining up to see it.

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Katie Holmes doesn’t expect there to be a Dawson’s Creek reunion, partly due to today’s society and social media.

Paula Cole isn’t the only one who doesn’t want to wait, as Dawson’s Creek fans have been hoping for a reunion for some time. And now that such fare is more popular than ever and this marks the 20th anniversary of the series finale, talk has again emerged from the creek.

During a discussion at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Joey Potter herself, Katie Holmes, addressed the idea of a Dawson’s Creek reunion. Unfortunately for fans of the teen drama, Holmes isn’t all that confident, despite some minor chatter. “There have been many discussions over the years. We all loved the experience…We’ve often talked about it…For now, we kind of just keeping saying that until there is a real reason to do it, it hasn’t been something where people have said, ‘This is the take on it.’”

Even if there was a Dawson’s Creek reunion, there is some doubt that it wouldn’t work in today’s society. “There’s a protection that comes along with the discussion. The show was a time capsule. To put it into today’s world might tarnish it a little bit. It was right before everyone had a phone and social media and all of that, so there was an innocence that was there between the characters that was one of the things I think people liked about the show. To put it into the setting of today’s world, I’m not sure.” She may have a point. Remember the time Dawson got super drunk and fell face first into his own birthday cake? Every background character would have been recording and posting to r/facepalm instead of just living in that glorious moment.

Holmes spoke last year about the potential of a Dawson’s Creek reunion, saying, “I think it’s great that you are nostalgic for it. So am I. But it’s like, do we want to see them not at that age? We all decided we don’t [want a reboot] actually,” she said, supposedly indirectly citing co-stars James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, and Michelle Williams. [Insert Dawson crying meme here] And so while we may not get the reunion we all want, we did at least get “Run Like Mad” removed, so we have to take victories when we can.

Dawson’s Creek ran on The WB from 1998 to 2003, with 128 episodes during the six-season run. The show is often credited with popularizing teen dramedies. 

Would you like to see a Dawson’s Creek reunion? Would it work in 2023?

The Inland Empire episode of Revisited was Written, Narrated, and Edited by Mike Conway, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

What defines a horror movie? Traditionally, it’s a genre meant to scare and thrill the audience by way of tension and illicit our darkest fears. The most popular of these are ones treated like an amusement park ride. You hand in your money for price of admission and hope for nothing but the best the ride promises to offer. Slashers and jump scare fueled films have long dominated the box office and the very best of them have earned a well-deserved cult status. It’s a genre which can be likened to a comfort food for many of us gorehounds and recently there have been quite a resurgence to fill our bellies. But that’s not all horror has to offer. The term elevated horror has been thrown around quite a bit recently which removes the horror standard of jump scares and kills and replaces it in a more metaphorical sense to dig even deeper into our psyche to bring out our true fears. I bring this up because whenever you hear the name David Lynch, do you associate his name with horror? He has brought us classic upon classic with films like Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway and even the underrated G rated Disney film The Straight Story. But when you really take a look into his more celebrated filmography like the masterpiece Mulholland Drive, it is a film which has all the qualities of elevated horror, but gets targeted as a mystery or thriller. Probably because the Academy sneers its nose at the genre. I mean, come on…Silence of the Lambs is clearly a horror movie.

But today’s subject is a different beast. It’s one that took a chance and the themes of Mulholland Drive and amped up the Lynchness to 11. Have you ever walked out on a film and asked the question “what the hell did I just watch?” Well, friends, I’m here to hopefully answer that question revisiting David Lynch’s Inland Empire (get it HERE).

Before I continue on, be warned this is full of spoilers where I will pretty much speak of the film’s major plot points all the way up to the ending.

“A Woman in Trouble.” That’s the tagline to the movie and pretty much the only thing Lynch answers when asked exactly what the movie is about. As with pretty much his entire filmography he provides the viewer with a surrealistic mind-bending experience which, more than likely, would require multiple viewings to fully understand. But Inland Empire? That’s on a whole different level.

During its three-hour run-time, only about a third of it consists of a straight-forward story. Fading actress Nikki Grace gets the role of a lifetime in a film called On High in Blue Tomorrows alongside womanizing co-star Devon Berk. They soon learn the film is actually a secret remake of an unfinished Polish film called 47, which was abandoned due to the two leads being murdered. Eventually, the two actors begin an affair. However, Nikki’s world starts to blend with that of the film, making it difficult to distinguish what is and what isn’t real. And that, my friends, is where the coherent story ends. Let’s jump back to the beginning.

Inland Empire begins with a shot of an old vinyl playing a broadcast of Axxon N, the longest radio play in history. From there, we see a crying woman known as The Lost Girl watching an eerie sitcom about a family of rabbit people. These rabbits speak in sentences which don’t make sense and is accompanied by random laugh tracks and applause. We will come back to these two stories in a bit.

Back in the real world, an older and disoriented woman stumble onto Nikki’s doorsteps, introducing herself as a new neighbor. The two women begin to talk about the film Nikki auditioned for to which the woman replies she knows for a fact she scored the role. The woman then tells Nikki two stories. The first involves a young boy who opened a doorway to see the world, causing an evil reflection that follows him. The second is a variation of the tale about a girl who gets lost in an alley behind a marketplace. She hints that the movie Nikki auditioned for involves murder and if her husband, Piotrek, is involved in the production. As Nikki, and the audience for that matter, get increasingly confused by this woman’s comments, she adds she has trouble keeping up time. She then points across the room and tells her if it were tomorrow, Nikki would be sitting right there. The time then jumps to the next day when Nikki receives the phone call that she got the lead in the film. Meanwhile, her husband overlooks seemingly in anger. The two stories this woman tells could be chopped up as nonsense, but when we are dealing with Lynch, one would have to keep these pieces in mind for later.

Some time goes by and the film is underway. While on a talk show, Nikki learns her co-star Devon is a womanizer and the hosts asks if the two are going to have an affair with each other. One person who doesn’t take the joke lightly is Piotrek, who warns Billy there will dire consequences to his actions if he tries anything.

On the first day on set of the film On High in Blue Tomorrows during a table read, a disturbance is heard in the background of the set. Devon goes to investigate the noise, but nothing is found. It is here where the director tells the pair about the film being a remake, which in turn is based on a cursed Polish folktale. Later on, we see exactly what the disturbance was from the point of view of the intruder. The film then cuts to a frightened and distraught woman at a police station who says she was hypnotized by a man to kill someone with a screwdriver. That’s pretty much the gist of the scene, but again, we will come back to that in a bit, as it is relevant to the story. As the filming resumes, Nikki and Devon begin an actual affair and try hide it, even by calling themselves their character’s names, Billy and Sue. Talk about method acting. In an alley with a bag a groceries, Nikki sees a door with Axxon N marked on it. She enters and is now in the façade of a house from the film. She sees herself going over the script with her Devon and the director. On the other side of a window, her husband stares at Nikki, haunting her. The façade then changes into her character’s house in the suburbs and Nikki now has fully immersed herself as her character Sue. Still with me? Because this is where the nightmare and true horror of Inland Empire begins.

Over the course of the next two hours of this film, Lynch takes you through many settings through the essence of Nikki’s desperate soul. To dissect this film in its entirety could honestly take hours, but I would just like to point at the key moments which transpire. However, from here on to make things a little easier, I’ll refer Nikki and Devon to their character names.

When Sue first enters her character’s home, she is greeted by a troupe of prostitutes. They all speak of a certain man whom they have all shared at one point. Thinking they are talking about Billy, she tries to hide her eyes from them, but when she opens them again, she is now in 1930s Poland working as a prostitute. Meanwhile the Lost Girl from the beginning is watching this as if it were part of a TV show with the Axxon N radio play continuing to spin, acting as a portal between Sue and the Lost Girl. She transports back to the current time where she eventually speaks to a policeman about her troubled past and how her husband left for a traveling circus from Poland. She’s also worried about a man she refers to as The Phantom, a hypnotist from the circus who had disappeared. She leaves for Los Angeles to Billy’s mansion to profess her love for him. However, his wife Doris is there. The same woman who had claimed to be hypnotized to kill someone with a screwdriver.

Now on the streets of LA, Sue meets up with the prostitutes where she herself mockingly admits to being one herself. She then sees Doris, now dressed as she had from the interrogation scene earlier, coming after her. She escapes, but ultimately gets stabbed and slowly dies on Hollywood Boulevard amongst the homeless.

Suddenly, we hear “cut” from the director as the camera pulls back, revealing it to be the final scene of On High in Blue Tomorrows. Sue, now Nikki, is confused to what is going on and wanders off onto the Paramount lot. However, she sees a camera is still lingering on her as if she is continuing to be cursed to live a repeating nightmare. In an alley, she sees the Axxon N doorway leading back to Sue’s home where she grabs a gun. In the distance, The Phantom stalks her and approaches her as she reaches a door labeled 47. She fires at The Phantom, causing his face to morph into the most goddamn horrifying image that will stick with you. Watching this all transpire in real-time; The Lost Girl sees Nikki enter her room. The two share a kiss and Nikki disappears. This finally frees The Lost Girl from the locked room where she sees her husband, Smithy and their son. The curse continues.

Like Lost Highway and especially Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire takes a complete 180 from reality and enters a realm where everything at first glance feels like every possible bizarre idea was thrown at the wall to see what sticks. Since the film’s release in 2006, there have been countless articles, essays and videos on people’s theories on exactly what this film is. But the beauty of it is, there is no right or wrong opinion. And honestly, my thoughts vary every now and then.

On one hand, you could interpret everything which occurred after the strange neighbor in the beginning all in Nikki’s head. Both of the brief stories she tells are reflections of the events of the final two hours. Nikki places herself in the shoes of the characters in her neighbor’s stories and envisions what would happen if she actually took the role. But that’s too easy of a conclusion.

Another is to look at the film as a metaphor on the lengths method actors will go for the sake of art. Such great lengths that they could easily be lost in the role. Not to the extent of Laura Dern’s character, of course. The Lost Girl represents us, the audience watching these actors fully transforming into their roles right before our eyes. The power of cinema is that it can take you on a journey from a world you don’t feel like yourself in to a better place where for over the course of a couple hours, you are that very character as well. It’s an escapism that can have such an impact on you, that it can help you rethink the way you look at the world.

Finally, you can look at it just the way it is. There is indeed a curse where multiple people are reliving a nightmare over and over in different versions of themselves. The Rabbits are deities who act like they are helping The Phantom, but are actually trying to destroy him to rid the curse once and for all. Throughout the film, they transform into real people who give clues and guides Nikki to find The Phantom without her even knowing it. After she finally kills him, she enters and emptied room where the Rabbits were, only now instead of a laugh track, she is greeted with applause.

Maybe it’s all three. Or maybe it’s just simply about a woman in trouble.

If this is indeed Lynch’s final theatrical film, then I’d say he went out with his horrifying version of Sunset Boulevard. Even amongst the more hardcore David Lynch fans, Inland Empire has polarizing responses. But as for me, it’s one that I always come back to analyze the most. It’s not a masterpiece like Mulholland Drive, but it’s pretty damn close. And that’s why I’m giving this film a 9 out of 10.

What are YOUR thoughts or interpretations of Inland Empire? Let us know in the comments and we will see you again for the next one.

Two previous episodes of Revisited can be seen below. To see more of our shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals channel – and subscribe while you’re at it!