Synopsis for
Lost Highway (1997)

Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) is a saxophonist who, after a long nights work, receives a message from an unknown man on the intercom of the front door of his house saying "Dick Laurent is dead". When Fred looks out a window, he glimpses a car speeding away chased by a police car.

Fred then plays his saxophone at a nightclub that night where his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette) does not join him. Fred calls his house during a break, but she does not answer. Arriving home later, Fred sees Renee asleep in bed and when he asks her where she was she tells him that she never went out all evening. Fred suspects that Renee may be cheating on him.

The next morning, there is a mysterious package that arrives on the front doorstep containing a videotape of their home. As the days pass, more tapes arrive, showing the interior of their house and even shots of them in bed sleeping. Fred and Renee call the police, but the two detectives Al and Ed (John Roselius and Louis Eppolito) say that there's nothing they can do about it.

That evening, Fred and Renee go out to a party held by Andy (Michael Massee) a band manager friend of Renee. There, Fred meets a strange looking Mystery Man in Black (Robert Blake), who tells Fred that he is at his house right now and the one who sent the videotapes to him. Fred phones his house and the voice of the Mystery Man answers at the house while hes standing right in front of Fred. Fred walks away and asks Andy who the Mystery Man is and is told that he is a friend of Dick Laurent, a millionaire.

Back home the next morning, another tape arrives and Fred watches it alone. To his horror it contains images of him killing Renee. Fred calls the police, but they arrest him for the murder. Tried, found guilty and sentenced to death, Fred is locked away on death row in San Quentin prison. Shortly after arriving, Fred is plagued by frequent headaches and is perplexed by strange visions of the Mystery Man, a burning cabin in the desert, and a strange other man driving down a dark highway.

One morning, during a routine check of the cells, the prison guards are shocked to find that the man in Freds cell is not Fred. The man is discovered to be Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty) a young, confused auto mechanic. Pete is released into the care of his parents Bill and Candace (Gary Busey and Lucy Butler) and taken home to their house in Van Nuys while at the same time, Pete is being followed by two detectives named Hank and Lou (Carl Sundstrom and John Soiari) to find out why and how Pete ended up in Fred Madisons cell.

Pete goes out that evening with his friends Steve V (Giovanni Ribisi), Teddy, (Scott Coffey), Lanie (Heather Stephens) and Carl (Al Garrett) along with Pete's girlfriend Sheila (Natasha Gregson Wagner). The next day, Pete returns to work at the garage where he is welcomed back by the owner Arnie (Richard Pryor) and his co-workers including veteran mechanic Phil (Jack Nance). Pete is called on by a certain Mr. Eddy (Robert Loggia), a charming but hot-tempered gangster, to fix his Mercedes. Mr. Eddy takes Pete for a drive where Pete witnesses him wave a tail gater (Greg Travis) on, then rams into the guys car and he and his two cohorts attack the driver. Pete goes out that evening with Sheila where she questions him on his moody behavior, but lets lust sidetrack her again.

The next day, Mr. Eddy returns with the Mercedes for Pete to repair and also inside the car is a beautiful blond woman named Alice Wakefield (also Patricia Arquette), Mr. Eddy's mistress. At the end of the day, Alice arrives at the garage to pick up the car and invites Pete out for dinner. Soon, Pete and Alice begin a secret liaison by meeting a run-down motels every night. Alice begins to fear that Mr. Eddy suspects her and Pete of seeing each other and tells Pete about a plan to steal money from a friend of hers so they can leave town. After Pete is confronted by a jealous Sheila, his worrisome parents, and receives a threatening phone call from Mr. Eddy and his associate, the Mystery Man, Pete agrees to help Alice with her plan.

Pete goes to Andy's house where Alice already is with Andy. Pete breaks in and, while searching the house, discovers a porno tape of Alice. Andy catches Pete and after a struggle, Pete accidently kills him and he and Alice escape with the money. Arriving at a cabin in the desert, Alice reveals to Pete that Mr. Eddy is actually a porno producer named Dick Laurent and forced her to do the tapes. Alice then seduces Pete and then says "you'll never have me".

Pete suddenly metamorphous back into Fred Madison who searches the desert cabin and meets the Mystery Man again with a video camera who tells Fred that Alice is actually Renee. Fred drives to the Lost Highway Hotel and sees the brunette Renee/Alice and Mr. Eddy/Dick Laurant checking into a room. After Renee leaves, Fred breaks into Mr. Eddy's room, grabs him and takes him away in his Mercedes.

In the desert, Fred beats up Mr. Eddy where the Mystery Man suddenly appears with portable TV and shows that Fred knows he and Renee have been having an affair. The Mystery Man when shoots Mr. Eddy to death and whispers something to Fred. The Mystery Man disappears and Fred drives off in Mr. Eddy's Mercedes.

In the final scene, Fred drives to his house and he is in fact the one who buzzes the intercom and leaves the message, "Dick Laurent is dead", to himself in the past. The two detectives, Al and Ed, appear looking for Pete Dayton when they see Fred at the front door of his old house. Fred runs back to his car and drives off with the detectives in close pursuit. As it gets dark, Fred speeds down the lost highway pursued by the police as he enters a dark vortex and begins metamorphosing into another someone.