--- title: "Blue Velvet: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/blue-velvet/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/blue-velvet" critics_score: 87 critics_reviews: 10 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Blue Velvet (1986): what the critics said Critics' score 87 from 10 reviews: 9 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics respond enthusiastically to Blue Velvet, praising David Lynch’s disturbing treatment of small-town American life and the desires concealed beneath its respectable surface. The praise centres on the contrast between ordinary suburban imagery and sexual menace, with several reviews singling out the opening sequence for establishing that unease. Performances are another point of agreement: Dennis Hopper and Isabella Rossellini receive particular attention, while Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern also earn praise for making Lynch’s strange situations convincing. The reservations concern the substance behind the shock and the film’s place within Lynch’s work. The Guardian admires its radical approach and committed performances but finds it calculated and a little hollow. Empire remains positive while judging later Lynch films more accomplished. The spread therefore runs from strong enthusiasm to qualified admiration, with the clearest dissent questioning whether the film has enough to say rather than its ability to disturb. ## Radio Times — John Ferguson Rating 5/5. This is the most complete of David Lynch's films, made before his disturbing black vision of small-town American life veered into self-parody. The dark tone is set from the opening sequence, which starts with white picket fences and cheery firemen but ends with a man suffering a stroke in his garden while insect life seethes beneath the lawn; Kyle MacLachlan plays the young innocent sucked into the bizarre sadomasochistic relationship between Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-hht3fq/blue-velvet/) ## The Times Rating ★★★★★. 2 January 2026. The review calls Blue Velvet Lynch’s most accomplished and unsettling feature, praising its exploration of darker male desires and the extraordinary performances by Dennis Hopper and Isabella Rossellini. It highlights the film’s enduring influence and disturbing power. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/blue-velvet-review-david-lynch-t5rknxfwq) ## The AV Club — Noel Murray Rating A. 16 November 2011. Blue Velvet is the film where Lynch's career makes sense, distilling noir into a subversive tale of dark sexuality beneath suburban blandness. The critic notes its plot-driven nature and lasting impact despite initial controversy over its treatment of characters. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/blue-velvet-1798170482) ## Los Angeles Times — Sheila Benson Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 October 1986. The critic calls it the most brilliantly disturbing film rooted in small-town American life, shocking and visionary with images of innocence and dark sexuality that lodge in the unconscious. Lynch's conviction and the superlative acting, especially by MacLachlan, Dern and Hopper, are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-03-ca-3878-story.html) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 27 May 2002. Lynch charts the uncomfortable space between boyhood and manhood in a film about subconscious desires beneath America's idealistic facade. The critic praises the film's mise-en-scène, score, and thematic depth in contrasting normalcy with perversion. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/blue-velvet/) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 4 December 2001. The review praises Blue Velvet as the film where David Lynch settled into his stride, creating a uniquely disturbing and frequently beautiful work with universally superb performances. It highlights the lasting shock value of key scenes and Lynch's dark genius. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/blue-velvet-review/) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1985. The critic notes Lynch returns to familiar strange territory with a disturbing look at the ugly underside of Middle American life, investigating inexplicable demons in a conventional small town. Rossellini's abandon and Hopper's portrait of evil are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1985/film/reviews/blue-velvet-1200426972/) ## Empire — Rob Fraser Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic views Blue Velvet as a compelling and exciting film that established Lynch's signature style of probing the dark underbelly of small-town America, with standout performances especially from Dennis Hopper. They single out its Hitchcockian elements and visual style for praise but note it is ultimately outshone by Lynch's later work. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/blue-velvet-review/) ## The Guardian — Derek Malcolm Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 9 April 1987. The critic describes Blue Velvet as a resolutely radical film that exists on levels of absolute reality and nightmare, subverting genres while offering observations on fears of unconstrained human nature. It is performed with conviction but ultimately feels calculated and a little hollow. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/09/david-lynchs-blue-velvet-reviewed-archive-1987) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Rating Critic's Pick. 19 September 1986. The critic finds the film an exhilarating, one-of-a-kind mix of kinkiness, deadpan humor and eccentricity that ricochets from one weird episode to another. Its brilliant opening sequence and Lynch's status as an innovator are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/19/movies/screen-blue-velvet-comedy-of-the-eccentric.html) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 3 March 2007. The critic hails it as one of the great masterpieces of modern cinema. She praises its powerful narrative, finely tuned performances, unmatchable style and iconic imagery drawn from Jungian archetypes. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/blue-velvet-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/blue-velvet.md