My Explanation of Inland Empire

'Inland Empire' is a movie by David Lynch that I just watched and I wanted to get my theories on what the movie is about while they're still fresh in my mind and before I'm tempted to look up other people's explanations. Like any David Lynch movie, 'Inland Empire' is a psychological thriller. In other words, it is one of those movie that you have to figure out for yourself. I like those kinds of movies because after you watch it, you think about it for weeks trying to figure out what happened and usually there isn't a real answer. What's really fun about them is that you get to go online and share your theories. Which is exactly what I'm going to do!

SPOILER ALERT - If you intend on watching this movie, I wouldn't suggest you read beyond this point.

So allow me to assume that if you're reading this, you have seen the movie. I don't need to tell you that it is practically unexplainable. There is a 99.999999999% chance that my "explanation" isn't even close to what the movie is actually about, but I'd like to give it a shot anyway.

The title, 'Inland Empire', is more or less the setting of the movie. Inland Empire is sort of a nickname for the part of Los Angelas county that isn't touching the ocean (i.e. inland). It could also have a double meaning describing how everything in the movie is inside of something. There are rooms inside of rooms, and movies inside of movies, etc inside of etc.

Nikki (Laura Dern) is a washed up movie actress trying to make it back on the A-list but can't get back on her feet. The entire movie is sort of a premonition about her career and her fear that her acting career might be over. Nikki's career is depending on whether or not she gets the lead role in 'On High On Blue Tomorrows'. But, like she says to the old woman before the premonition begins, it is highly unlikely that she will get the part. When watching a movie like this, you have to assume that everything is true. So when she does get the part, something isn't right. That's how we know she has gone into a premonition brought on by the old woman.

Now Nikki finally has a chance to jump start her career. I'm making the bold assumption that Nikki is a method actor and most of my theory is based around that. A few times in the film, she asks people if they recognize her. She is kinda asking them whether or not she is in character. Basically, what I'm trying to say, is that the entire movie is about Nikki trying to become her character, Susan. She gets so caught up in her character that she starts confusing her life with Susan's. For example, Susan has an affair with Billy - So, Nikki has an affair with Devon (the actor playing Billy). As the movie progresses, she goes from being rich to living on the street. This is supposed to show how she is changing from Nikki to her character. She is slowly becoming Susan and by the last scene in 'On High On Blue Tomorrows' (the scene where she dies next to the hobos) she is Susan. That is the defining moment because Susan dies in that scene and when Nikki wakes up she is dazed and confused, no longer struggling to be Susan.

While Nikki is making this transformation into Susan, she is confronted by a group of women who make the same gradual changes that Nikki does. A lot of the time, Nikki is just watching them interact which makes me think she is studying them. These women each represent a different persona of who Nikki imagines Susan to be. I can't think of any better way to word it. Nikki is creating the character of Susan and those women are her different depictions of Susan. They run away when Nikki has "found" Susan.

Back to what happens after the scene where Susan dies. It is revealed that she is still on the set of the movie. Now Nikki is starting to come out of the premonition but before she can do that, she has to face her fears. Her fear is that her acting career is over and she'll end up on the streets just like Susan. She goes into a movie theater and sees herself on the screen. This sort of represents what she wants - to be on screen in movies. She then faces some guy... the movie was so confusing that I don't remember who that guy was but I'm sure he is of some significance. She shoots the man, but his face is replaced by hers. Symbolic in a way. Then she comes to room 47. Earlier in the movie it is mentioned that the number 47 was considered bad luck and was the original title of 'On High On Blue Tomorrows'. When I searched "47" on Wikipedia I found some interesting information:

"47 has been the favorite number of Pomona College, California, since 1964. A mathematical proof, written in 1964, supposedly demonstrates that all numbers are equal to 47."

Pomona is a part of greater LA that the hobo women talk about during the death scene. Coincidence? So Susan walks through this door and finally faces her demons (the rabbits). The rabbits are like a sitcom. Perhaps because Nikki is afraid that she will end up acting in a crappy television show instead of in movies? That's dumb, I know. Then some more crazy stuff happens and the premonition ends. She returns to where she started, facing the old woman and then it cuts to her sitting on the sofa across the room alone. Earlier the old woman said that Nikki would be on that sofa tomorrow. Anytime I see a character interact with a sofa in the movie I associate it with tomorrow. In the premonition, Nikki is on the sofa with friends. She gets a call from her agent telling her she got the job playing Susan on 'On High On Blue Tomorrows'. But at the end of the movie, she is sitting alone and she doesn't get the part but she isn't too upset about it because after having the premonition she has already faced the fear that she wouldn't. There is still a lot that I can't explain, but I don't think anyone has everything figured out. What's your theory?