The 2025 Oscars ruffled some cinephile feathers when the ceremony failed to dutifully tribute David Lynch, the legendary filmmaker behind classic flicks like "Eraserhead", "The Elephant Man" and "Blue Velvet", and iconic TV series like "Twin Peaks." (Lynch died on January 15 at age 78 after a long battle with emphysema.)
However, despite the Academy's oversight, you can honor the late, great director yourself with viewings of not one but two of the best David Lynch movies, coming to Paramount Plus this month.
Yes, as of March 1, both Lynch's 1984 adaptation of "Dune" as well as his 2001 neo-noir mystery "Mulholland Drive" — the latter of which earned the auteur the 2001 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director, as well as a Best Director nomination at the Academy Awards — have arrived on that streaming service.
Before you cue up those titles, read on for info on both beloved films. And if you want to have yourself a whole Lynchian marathon, both "Twin Peaks" and "Twin Peaks: The Return" are also available to stream with a Paramount Plus subscription.
What is 'Mulholland Drive' about?
Written and directed by Lynch, the surrealist thriller "Mulholland Drive" stars Naomi Watts as Betty Elms, an aspiring Midwestern actress newly arrived in Los Angeles. When she encounters Rita (Laura Harring), an amnesiac woman who claims she's in danger, the two women team up to find clues related to the accident that resulted in Rita's memory loss and solve the mystery of her true identity.
Elsewhere, the dreamy, nonlinear film is made up of a series of vignettes, including stories centered around a Hollywood director named Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux), who runs into the mobs while casting for his latest film, as well as a mysterious woman Diane Selwyn and an unknown actress named Camilla Rhodes.
Why you should watch 'Mulholland Drive'
Widely considered one of the greatest films of all time, "Mulholland Drive" is deservedly praised for its mesmerizing atmosphere and mind-twisting visuals, its lingering sense of foreboding and its career-defining performance from star Naomi Watts.
The mystifying title was ranked the best film of the 21st century by both IndieWire and the BBC, and it currently holds an 84% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's critical consensus reading: "David Lynch's dreamlike and mysterious 'Mulholland Drive' is a twisty neo-noir with an unconventional structure that features a mesmerizing performance from Naomi Watts as a woman on the dark fringes of Hollywood."
Watch 'Mulholland Drive' on Paramount Plus
What is 'Dune' about?
Long before Timothée Chalamet was born, frequent David Lynch collaborator Kyle MacLachlan ("Blue Velvet", "Twin Peaks") was strapping up his desert boots to play Paul Atredies, the hero of Lynch's 1984 sci-fi epic "Dune."
Adapted from Frank Herbert's 1965 novel of the same name, the space opera follows Paul, heir to the great noble house of Atredies and possible galaxy-saving prophet, as he battles the oppressive House Harkonnen over control of the planet Arrakis, also known as Dune.
Gigantic sandworms, culture clashes and laser-filled battles with rock legend Sting — who plays the Harkonnen villain Feyd-Rautha— ensue. (Francesca Annis, Patrick Stewart, Sean Young, Jose Ferrer, Max Von Sydow, Virginia Madsen, Jack Nance and Linda Hunt fill out the rest of the cast.)
Why you should watch 'Dune'
First and foremost, let's be clear that David Lynch's "Dune" was nowhere near as critically acclaimed or commercially successful as Denis Villeneuve's adaptations of the sci-fi franchise. (Sure, it was Oscar-nominated for Best Sound, but it also won a 1984 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Picture.)
Lynch's version currently holds a dismal 32% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though critical consensus does acknowledge that, while the "truncated adaptation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi masterwork is too dry to work as grand entertainment," Lynch's "flair for the surreal gives it some spice." And frankly, that's exactly the reason to watch — to see how a once-in-a-lifetime talent like Lynch puts his signature spin on a blockbuster property. It's profoundly strange, enormously ambitious, visually psychedelic and, despite its flaws, a gem of a genre film.
Watch 'Dune' on Paramount Plus
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