FOR more than 30 years, David Lynch has exposed the dark and twisted side of the human condition.

It was perhaps inevitable that his daughter Jennifer would follow in his footsteps, and in 1993, at the age of 24, she became the youngest woman in American history to direct a feature film, Boxing Helena, for which she picked up Worst Director at the Golden Raspberry Awards.

Fifteen years have passed and now she returns with her second feature, a thriller of murder and deception set predominantly on one of those never-ending highways loved by her father.

Explosions of graphic violence and moribund humour prove that she has definitely inherited his appreciation for a world teetering on the brink of insanity.

Cop buddies Jack (Kent Harper) and Keith (Josh Strait) get their kicks by terrorising motorists and stealing their wallets.

They attempt the scam on two cars: one driven by drug-addled lovers Johnny and Bobby, and a family station wagon crammed with a mother her new partner and the kids, David and Stephanie.

The traffic stop turns sour when serial killers, who have been running amok in this barren landscape, unexpectedly gatecrash the roadside party.

The fractured chronology successfully conceals Lynch and co-writer Harper’s design but they tip the wink too early, putting us several steps ahead of the protagonists.

Showing at: Empire