High Art

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High Art

R

Released Jun 12, 1998

1h 42m

Drama

LGBTQ+

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

50 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Syd (Radha Mitchell), a low-level editor at a photography magazine eager to establish herself, discovers her neighbor is the once-celebrated downtown photographer Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy). Although Syd lives with her boyfriend (Gabriel Mann), she is drawn to Lucy, who has a volatile relationship with her heroin-addicted girlfriend, Greta (Patricia Clarkson). As Syd starts sleeping with Lucy, she is pulled into a glamorous but dangerous art-world scene, full of drugs and unexpected pleasures.

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Critics Consensus

A surprisingly sultry performance from Ally Sheedy elevates High Art from pretentious melodrama to compelling -- if still a little pretentious -- romance.

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Drew Gregory

Autostraddle

Ally Sheedy plays Lucy with a sexy grime.

Mar 29, 2021

Full Review

Philippa Snow

New Statesman

As well as its procession of downtown drug soirées, High Art offers one of the more sensitive on-screen depictions of lesbian sex in (relatively) mainstream cinema.

Jan 21, 2021

Full Review

Alyx Vesey

Bitch Media

[Ally Sheedy's] excellent as Berliner.

Jan 11, 2021

Full Review

Manuel Betancourt

FilmWeek (LAist)

A high-water mark for what queer cinema was in the 1990s.

May 20, 2025

Full Review

Anthony Bell

Our Own Community Press (Norfolk, VA)

Strong performances by [a] supporting cast keep this film energized through its very last scene

May 3, 2023

Full Review

Aviva Dove-Viebahn

Ms. Magazine

Twenty-two years later, High Art...resonates simultaneously as a timeless meditation on love, loss and art and as a trenchant drama,

Jun 24, 2021

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Stephen C

Pride in 1 hour and 42 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can like anyone, anytime, anywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/11/25

Full Review

Stephen D

Ally is terrific. I really enjoyed this film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/08/25

Full Review

S R

I liked it being called a "pretentious melodrama". Add in Lesbian and drugs, and you got a good description. I saw it since it was on the NYT 1000 movies list. SLC DVD.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

05/03/25

Full Review

John A

Sheedy and Mitchell's devotion to the material is likely to wrap you up in the first act but I can't say if Director Cholodenko even pondered on the third act being anywhere near as fulfilling as the first. Worthwhile for the acting alone I'd say.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

11/02/24

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Frans G

Photo editor falls in love with upstairs neighbour, a retired photographer with a drug addiction and wrong friends. Emotionally drained characters populate this unremarkable movie. The two protagonists drag the film along and make it even slightly engaging. The soundtrack has a few captivating pieces.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

05/27/24

Full Review

John S

Superb, sexy, heartbreaking love story that is also a profound and realistic meditation on art and the art business. Stellar acting by the two leads as well as the inimitable Patricia Clarkson as the German junkie-ist German junkie ever captured on screen. Captivating.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/10/22

Full Review

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Lisa Cholodenko

Director

Ally Sheedy

Lucy Berliner

Radha Mitchell

Syd

Patricia Clarkson

Greta

Tammy Grimes

Vera

Gabriel Mann

James

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Synopsis

Syd (Radha Mitchell), a low-level editor at a photography magazine eager to establish herself, discovers her neighbor is the once-celebrated downtown photographer Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy). Although Syd lives with her boyfriend (Gabriel Mann), she is drawn to Lucy, who has a volatile relationship with her heroin-addicted girlfriend, Greta (Patricia Clarkson). As Syd starts sleeping with Lucy, she is pulled into a glamorous but dangerous art-world scene, full of drugs and unexpected pleasures.

Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Producer: Dolly Hall, Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte, Susan A. Stover
Screenwriter: Lisa Cholodenko
Distributor: October Films
Production Co: October Films, 391 Productions, Antidote Films
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 12, 1998, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Apr 4, 2025
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 10, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.9M
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Surround

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