Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me Movie Review

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)

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Written by: David Lynch & Robert Engels (written by), Mark Frost & David Lynch (television series Twin Peaks)
Directed by: David Lynch
Starring: Sheryl Lee, Moira Kelly, David Bowie, Chris Isaak, Harry Dean Stanton, Ray Wise, Kyle MacLachlan
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
Laura Palmer's harrowing final days are chronicled one year after the murder of Teresa Banks, a resident of Twin Peaks' neighboring town.

Verdict
This is an addendum to the original series. Without that foundation, this would make even less sense. The movie takes everything disturbing from the series, but doesn't include any of the soap opera elements or camp. It's unsettling as we follow Laura trying to cope with trauma by escaping through harmful methods as she can't evade her tormentor. The movie ends where the series starts. As a fan of the series, it feels like required viewing, but it didn't offer as much as I had hoped.
Skip it.

Review
This begins with the FBI investigating the murder of Teresa Banks in Deer Meadow. The town isn't nearly as helpful as Twin Peaks. Agent Desmond goes missing before this shifts to Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and the town we know better. While the Twin Peaks (1990) series isn't required viewing, it certainly would help as this puts the pieces together of what happened prior to the series. The show focused on agent Dale Cooper's (Kyle MacLachlan) search for answers in Laura's murder investigation.

Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Isaak play Sam Stanley, Chester Desmond

Laura lives a double life. On the surface she's a popular high school girl, but she's possessed and traumatized by the evil spirit BOB. It's unsettling in part due to Laura acting out due to the repeated assaults. No one realizes what's going on as her tormentor is the unseen BOB. Without knowing BOB, I don't know if this movie would make any sense. He's a malevolent force that wants to create chaos and pain.

To escape her life, she's into drugs and partying. It's all a cry for help, but no one realizes. Many of the adults in her life only take advantage. She works at a brothel, which her father frequents. She's with her drug dealer boyfriend simply because he can provide her drugs, and she's cheating on him with one of the few people that cares about her. It's all a coping mechanism for a deeply troubled girl.

Sheryl Lee, Grace Zabriskie, Ray Wise play Laura, Sarah, Leland Palmer

This movie has everything that was disturbing in the series, but none of the camp, soap opera level sub-plots, and what made it endearing. The series maintained a balance. This prequel is disturbing, answering the questions where the solutions have already been inferred. I really didn't need to see the reveals. We see so much trauma, and despite knowing how Laura's story ends, which is the beginning of the series, it's disheartening to realize her only escape from suffering is death.