feeldb

Blue Velvet

1986 · 120 min · Director: David Lynch ★ IMDb 7.7 · 250,411 ratings

Show plot summary (may contain spoilers)

College student Jeffrey Beaumont returns to his idyllic hometown of Lumberton to manage his father's hardware store while his father is hospitalized. Walking though a grassy meadow near the family home, Jeffrey finds a severed human ear. After an initial investigation, lead police Detective John Williams advises Jeffrey not to speak to anyone about the case as they investigate further. Detective Williams also tells Jeffrey that he cannot divulge any information about what the police know. Detective Williams' high school aged daughter, Sandy Williams, tells Jeffrey what she knows about the case from overhearing her father's private conversations on the matter: that it has to do with a nightclub singer named Dorothy Vallens, who lives in an older apartment building near the Beaumont home. His curiosity getting the better of him, Jeffrey, with Sandy's help, decides to find out more about the woman at the center of the case by breaking into Dorothy's apartment while he knows she's at work. What Jeffrey finds is a world unfamiliar to him, one that he doesn't truly understand but one that he is unable to deny the lure of despite the inherent dangers of being associated with a possible murder. Still, he is torn between this world and the prospect of a relationship with Sandy, the two who are falling for each other, despite Sandy already being in a relationship with Mike, the school's star football player.

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Emotional fingerprint

Blue Velvet (1986) — Movie. Top emotional signals: Disturbing 30%, Anxiety 25%, Confusion 20%. Source: AI estimate. Shares describe emotional signal, not percentages of people. Your experience may differ. How we measure

  1. Fear15%

AI estimate · no viewer votes yet

How we measure

AI estimate

Share of emotional signal, not the percentage of people or a probability of enjoyment.

Each viewer contributes one response, split equally across their selected emotions. When available, an automated estimate supplies a prior that is blended with those responses. Counts include distinct viewers, not automated estimates or archived anonymous votes. Fewer than 3 viewers is an early estimate; more responses do not guarantee certainty.

Why it feels this way

The strongest emotional signals are Disturbing, Anxiety, Confusion. Genres: Drama, Mystery, Crime. AI estimate.

Is it worth watching?

Consider this title if you are looking for Disturbing, Anxiety and Confusion. Its IMDb rating of 7.7/10 suggests a generally positive audience reception. For these leading emotions, its Feel Score is 73/100.

How did it make you feel?

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Emotional journey

AI · from subtitles
  • Tension
  • Disturbing
  • Sympathy

Not enough subtitle evidence

No dominant emotion

Dominant emotion: Love

Dominant emotion: Curiosity

Dominant emotion: Tension

Dominant emotion: Disturbing

Dominant emotion: Sympathy

Tension
Disturbing
Sympathy
Emotional journey Emotional intensity over the film’s runtime, from quieter to stronger on a fixed 0–1 scale. Hatched intervals have insufficient subtitle evidence. The table provides the values.
Ending hidden

Dominant emotion

Intensity dips around 3 %, then peaks around 38 %, then peaks around 68 %.Ending hidden

Emotional journey
%Approximate minuteDominant emotionOverall intensityTensionDisturbingSympathy
2.5 %≈ 3′Love47 %12 %18 %17 %
7.5 %≈ 9′Curiosity50 %21 %33 %15 %
12.5 %≈ 15′Curiosity50 %31 %29 %10 %
17.5 %≈ 21′Tension51 %42 %16 %6 %
22.5 %≈ 27′Curiosity54 %49 %13 %8 %
27.5 %≈ 33′Tension64 %61 %29 %20 %
32.5 %≈ 39′Tension80 %79 %64 %41 %
37.5 %≈ 45′Disturbing88 %79 %83 %63 %
42.5 %≈ 51′Sympathy81 %61 %74 %73 %
47.5 %≈ 57′Sympathy70 %49 %63 %61 %
52.5 %≈ 63′Disturbing68 %53 %64 %49 %
57.5 %≈ 69′Disturbing75 %65 %70 %49 %
62.5 %≈ 75′Tension83 %78 %75 %54 %
67.5 %≈ 81′Disturbing88 %85 %83 %65 %
72.5 %≈ 87′Disturbing80 %76 %74 %64 %
77.5 %≈ 93′Curiosity66 %60 %44 %46 %
82.5 %≈ 99′Love73 %64 %40 %49 %
87.5 %≈ 105′Sympathy88 %79 %64 %60 %
92.5 %≈ 111′Tension88 %69 %56 %44 %
97.5 %≈ 117′Love78 %38 %27 %25 %
Man in a hole

Rags to riches: The emotional tone rises from negative to positive.

Riches to rags: The emotional tone falls from positive to negative.

Man in a hole: The tone falls, then recovers.

Icarus: The tone rises, then falls.

Cinderella: The tone rises, falls, then rises again.

Oedipus: The tone falls, rises, then falls again.

AI reading of the film’s English subtitles (dialogue and sound cues) — not viewer votes. How we measure ↗

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Viewer responses about feelings after the title ended, separate from feelings while watching. No AI estimates.

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Cast

Isabella Rossellini

Dorothy Vallens

Kyle MacLachlan

Jeffrey Beaumont

Dennis Hopper

Frank Booth

Laura Dern

Sandy Williams

HL
Hope Lange

Mrs. Williams

GD
George Dickerson

Detective Williams

PP
Priscilla Pointer

Mrs. Beaumont

Frances Bay

Aunt Barbara

JH
Jack Harvey

Mr. Beaumont

KS
Ken Stovitz

Mike

Brad Dourif

Raymond

JM
J. Michael Hunter

Hunter

DG
Dick Green

Don Vallens

FP
Fred Pickler

Yellow Man

PM
Philip Markert

Dr. Gynde

LW
Leonard Watkins

Double Ed

MG
Moses Gibson

Double Ed

SS
Selden Smith

Nurse Cindy

Details

Directed by
David Lynch
Written by
David Lynch
Type
Movies
Released
1986
Runtime
120 min
Country
United States
Ratings
★ IMDb 7.7 · 250,411 ratings
Feels mostly
Disturbing
Data updated

Where to watch

Data: JustWatch · Wikidata

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Emotion overlap shows mood similarity, not a prediction of enjoyment.