WHAT DID JACK DO?

WHAT DID JACK DO? - NETLFIX

David Lynch is a name synonymous with a very certain brand of cinema — a brand that has coined its own term over his nearly sixty-year career. Despite only releasing Twin Peaks in the last decade, a series many call one of the best works released in the 2010s, Lynch never let up on being an artist. Whether through his charitable organizations, painting, work as a musician or his festival of disruption, Lynch has never had more creative freedom than he does now. 

Shown during his 2018 Festival of Disruption, What Did Jack Do? — released on NETFLIX on Lynch’s birthday — has the same macabre, dreamlike nature Lynch has perfected, broken down and perfected again with the majority of his projects. Clocking in at 17 minutes, the short follows a detective — played by a chain-smoking Lynch — who converses with and interrogates a monkey, named Jack, suspected of murder.  The plot may be simple but anyone familiar with the films of David Lynch know that’s only the beginning.

Over the 17 minute run time, the audience is treated to numerous non-sequiturs, the joy of a talking monkey — who breaks down into a musical number about falling in love sometime throughout — and the endless discussion of farm animals mixed in with typical interrogation scene dialogue done in Lynch’s idiosyncratic style. 

Much of Lynch’s work is steeped in the language and overall feel of film noir, and this short follows that trend. The black and white cinematography has a graininess to it that make this short look like an early silent film. The look is accompanied by a equally eerie sound design and mixing — worked on by Lynch, as he has for majority of his projects. Further playing up his auteur status, editing and set design duties were also handled by Lynch, with him even working all the way down to set construction.

What Did Jack Do? is David Lynch through and through. Depending on the level of admiration of his other work, this will either be as expected from him or a very trying consumption of time. Regardless of feelings towards him, Lynch is the kind of artist the world needs more of.

WHAT DID JACK DO? is streaming exclusively on NETFLIX January 20th 2020