In a bleak industrial landscape, Henry learns he is about to become a father. Shortly after meeting his new in-laws, his girlfriend gives birth to a horrifying, mutant-like creature that won’t stop crying. Overwhelmed by anxiety and the strain of caring for this sickly, otherworldly infant, Henry spirals into madness. Featuring nightmarish black-and-white imagery and haunting sound design, David Lynch’s visionary debut became a cult sensation on the midnight movie circuit, heralding the arrival of one of the most unique artistic voices in American cinema.

Our screening on Monday 28th October will be introduced by Francesco Sticchi (Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at Oxford Brookes University). 

Reviews

‘It’s beautiful and strange, with its profoundly disturbing ambient sound design of industrial groaning, as if filmed inside some collapsing factory or gigantic dying organism.’
★★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

‘Lynch’s remarkable first feature is a true original.’
★★★★★
Tom Huddlestone, Time Out

Francesco Sticchi is a Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at Oxford Brookes University, author on several texts on film-philosophy and politics, and co-founder of the Cinematic Precarity Research Network.