David Lynch would struggle to make films in social media landscape, say collaborators

Shorter attention spans would make it hard for director to tell ‘deeply connective’ stories, say colleagues on 80th birthday

A film-maker as unique as David Lynch would struggle to emerge in present-day Hollywood because of audiences’ shorter attention spans and the influence of social media on their ability to concentrate, according to collaborators of the director.

Lynch, who died in January 2025 and would have been 80 on Tuesday, was celebrated for his complex, funny and unnerving films and TV work, including Twin Peaks, Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive, all made in his distinctive “Lynchian” style.

Mary Sweeney, who worked with Lynch as an editor, was briefly married to the director and has a son with him, said he would struggle if starting out now.

“He had his own logic and his own way of telling stories: it was very funny, very scary and deeply connective in terms of psychology and emotion with the audiences,” she said.