Mulholland Drive
A neo-noir fever dream where the shimmering promise of Hollywood glamour dissolves into a visceral nightmare of fractured identity, fueled by the haunting echo of a single blue key and the silence of a tragic secret.
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive

"A love story in the city of dreams."

06 June 2001 France 147 min ⭐ 7.8 (6,767)
Director: David Lynch
Cast: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Mark Pellegrino
Drama Thriller Mystery
The Duality of Identity Dreams vs. Reality Hollywood as a Nightmare Guilt and Repression
Budget: $15,000,000
Box Office: $20,289,986

Mulholland Drive - Characters & Cast

Character Analysis

Betty Elms / Diane Selwyn

Naomi Watts

Archetype: The Tragic Heroine
Key Trait: Performative optimism masking deep-seated despair.

Motivation

In the dream, she wants to help Rita and succeed as an actress. In reality, she is driven by a desperate, obsessive love for Camilla and a crushing sense of professional failure.

Character Arc

Starts as the 'Ingénue' Betty, a hopeful and talented actress in a dream world. The arc shatters into the 'Failed Actress' Diane, who is consumed by jealousy, drug use, and suicidal ideation after losing her career and lover.

Rita / Camilla Rhodes

Laura Harring

Archetype: The Femme Fatale / The Muse
Key Trait: Enigmatic beauty and cold ambition.

Motivation

In reality, Camilla is motivated by fame and power, using her sexuality to climb the Hollywood social ladder while discarding Diane.

Character Arc

Transforms from the vulnerable, amnesiac 'Rita' who is dependent on Betty, into the successful, aloof, and manipulative 'Camilla' who has moved on from Diane to marry a director.

Adam Kesher

Justin Theroux

Archetype: The Disillusioned Artist
Key Trait: Arrogant yet vulnerable.

Motivation

Initially seeks creative control and domestic stability, but shifts to survival and compliance as he realizes the magnitude of the forces against him.

Character Arc

A director who loses control of his film and his personal life (finding his wife cheating). He is eventually forced to surrender his artistic integrity to mysterious forces.

Cast

Naomi Watts as Betty Elms / Diane Selwyn
Laura Harring as Rita / Camilla Rhodes
Justin Theroux as Adam
Ann Miller as Coco
Mark Pellegrino as Joe
Robert Forster as Detective McKnight
Dan Hedaya as Vincenzo Castigliane
Angelo Badalamenti as Luigi Castigliane
Patrick Fischler as Dan
Brent Briscoe as Detective Domgaard
Michael Cooke as Herb
Monty Montgomery as Cowboy
Lee Grant as Louise
James Karen as Wally Brown
Chad Everett as Jimmy Katz