Beyonce Lemonade: How David Lynch and Terrence Malick influenced her visual album

A visual essay looks at side-by-side comparisons of Lemonade with famous cinematic shots and visual art pieces

Let's be honest: Beyoncé's visual album is so profoundly good, it's basically already topped every single film out this year.

Indeed, it's a monumental convergence of music, personal philosophy, and cultural politics; looking to diverse artistic influences to create a free-flowing, yet individually distinct set of music videos.

Now, thanks to Nelson Carvajal's video essay titled, "Film Fidelity: Beyoncé's Lemonade", fans can take a closer look at some the iconic films and visual art pieces that inspired the look of Lemonade. Most obvious are the influences of David Lynch's red curtain thematics from the likes of Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks, as well as the dream-like visuals of Terrence Malick's To the Wonder and Tree of Life.

However, the essay also points out how "Hold Up"'s baseball-swinging antics may have derived from visual artist Pipilotti Rist's Ever Is Over All, and links the dancing styles in "Sorry" to Cameron Jamie's dance film Massage the History. The video also features Jonas Mekas' Like Mekas and Terence Nance's An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty. 
 

Lemonade was a coordinated effort by multiple directors: including Jonas Åkerlund, Melina Matsoukas, Dikayl Rimmasch, Mark Romanek, Todd Tourso, and Kahlil Joseph. Joseph had previously shot B-roll for Malick's To the Wonder, which has arguably gone on to heavily influence his own personal working style.