Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (released internationally as
Twin Peaks: The Movie) is a
1992 film directed by
David Lynch and written by Lynch and
Robert Engels. The film can be viewed as both
prologue and
epilogue to the
television series Twin Peaks (1990–91), created by Lynch and
Mark Frost. The film revolves around the investigation into the murder of Teresa Banks (
Pamela Gidley) and the last seven days in the life of
Laura Palmer (
Sheryl Lee), a popular high school student in the fictional
Washington town of Twin Peaks, of which these two connected murders were the central mysteries of the television series. Additionally, the film's convoluted narrative references - and clarifies - Agent
Dale Cooper (
Kyle MacLachlan)'s fate in the
series finale. Thus, the film is often considered a
prequel - however, it also has features more typical of a
sequel.
Most of the television cast returned for the film, with the notable exceptions of
Lara Flynn Boyle who declined to return as Laura’s best friend
Donna Hayward (she was replaced by
Moira Kelly), and
Sherilyn Fenn due to scheduling conflicts. Also, Kyle MacLachlan, who starred as
Special Agent Dale Cooper in the TV series, was reluctant to return so his presence in the film is smaller than originally planned.
Fire Walk with Me was greeted at the
1992 Cannes Film Festival with booing from the audience and met with negative reviews in the United States. The film fared poorly in the
United States at the box office, partially because it was released almost a year after the television series was canceled (due to a sharp ratings decline in the second season), partially due to its incomprehensibility to the uninitiated and the fact that the film only appeals to a subset of the viewers of the
Twin Peaks series. However, it was a commercial hit in
Japan.