Blue Velvet is a American mystery film, written and directed by David Lynch, that exhibits elements of both film noir and surrealism. The film features Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper and Laura Dern. The title Blue Velvet is taken from the 1963 Bobby Vinton song of the same name. The film was highly acclaimed by critics, although initially detested by some mainstream critics. The film earned Lynch his second Academy Award nomination for Best Director. As an example of a director casting against the norm, Blue Velvet is also noted for re-launching Dennis Hopper's career and providing Isabella Rossellini a dramatic outlet beyond work as a fashion model and a cosmetics spokeswoman for which she was formerly known.

After the commercial and critical failure of Lynch's Dune (1984), he made attempts at developing a more "personal story", somewhat characteristic of his surreal style he displayed in his debut Eraserhead (1977). The screenplay of Blue Velvet had been passed around multiple times in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with many major studios declining it because of its strong sexual and violent content. The independent studio De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, which was owned at the time by Italian film producer Dino De Laurentiis, agreed to finance and produce the film. Since its initial theatrical release, Blue Velvet has achieved status as a cult classic and is widely regarded as one of David Lynch's finest works, alongside Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive (2001).

The film tells the story of a college student named Jeffrey Beaumont, who upon returning from visiting his ill father in hospital, comes across a human ear in a grass field in his idealized American hometown of Lumberton. He proceeds to investigate the ear with assistance from Sandy Williams, who provides him with information and leads from her father, a local police detective. Jeffrey's investigation draws him deeper into his hometown's seedy underworld, and sees him forming a sexual relationship with the alluring torch singer, Dorothy Vallens, who may be connected to the ear, and uncovering a breed of criminals, including Frank Booth, who engage in drug abuse and sexual violence.