Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks appears in Mulholland Drive, according to one theory. In fact, both of David Lynch’s works may share more than just thematic similarities and actually exist in the same universe.
Twin Peaks, a cult television show with two seasons that aired in the 90s and a third that was released in 2017, is, in many ways, David Lynch’s culminating work. It explores themes such as dream states, dubious identities, betrayal, and the symbiotic relationship between sex and violence. Interestingly, these same themes can be found in Lynch’s surreal neo-noir film, Mulholland Drive (2001), but the parallels don’t stop there.
At the center of Twin Peaks is Laura Palmer, a young woman with a dark history of abuse and sex, who is murdered. Laura is plagued by a conflicting sense of duality, on one hand she’s a charitable homecoming queen and on the other, she’s a drug-abusing sexpot. For a number of reasons, she becomes a victim of Killer BOB, and a her soul is trapped in a place called The Black Lodge, a dimension of evil where corrupted spirits reside. In Mulholland Drive, Diane’s struggles parallel Laura’s, which makes it all the more poignant when Laura Palmer is seen sitting in Club Silencio.
Twin Peaks: Laura Palmer Is In Mulholland Drive
![Theory: Twin Peaks’ Laura Palmer Is In Mulholland Drive](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/mulholland-drive-laura-palmer-1.jpg)
Diane’s journey in Mulholland Drive takes a dark turn when she visits Club Silencio in Los Angeles. It’s there that the delusional world she has been living in, where she is a successful actress living with the girl of her dreams, breaks apart and reality begins to intrude. When she first enters the club, she and her girlfriend (Rita/Camilla) walk down the aisle to take their seats. Along the way, they pass others sitting in some of the other seats, including Laura’s friend Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine) and none other than Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) herself. It’s a brief moment and easy to miss, but it’s there.
Not surprisingly, considering David Lynch is notorious for keeping secrets and doing strange things, Sheryl Lee is not listed in the credits, but Phoebe Augustine, who plays her friend, gets credit on Mulholland Drive’s IMDB page as “woman in Club Silencio“. This points to a very important connection between Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive, in which they exist in the same universe. Considering the fact that it is Club Silencio that awakens Diane from her delusions, it seems reasonable to assume the club is a portal or waiting room between Los Angeles and The Black Lodge, and that it wishes to possess Diane’s soul as well as Laura Palmer’s. Laura’s very presence in Mulholland Drive opens up a number of possibilities for Twin Peaks fans.