One of my favorite moviegoing experiences was seeing this at a double feature with Tod Browning’s Freaks when I was 18. Its disturbing mix of horror, humor, and general weirdness was a formative experience. Seeing it again after 40 years, it remains no less bold and experimental, albeit considerably less shocking.

From watching his early short films, it’s clear how much of Lynch’s aesthetic was almost fully formed right out of the gate. Dreamlike surrealism combined with absurdist humor and…