His work could be weird, disturbing, nonlinear, even perverse. In life, he was almost comically old-fashioned. But there’s a method to the madness, and deep meaning to be discovered in the confusion he so expertly sowed.

Lynch’s films and TV series reflected the dark, ominous, often bizarre underbelly of American culture – one increasingly out of the shadows today. As someone who teaches film noir, I often think about the ways American cinema holds up a mirror to society.