High Art

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High Art

R

1998

1h 42m

Drama

LGBTQ+

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

79%

Tomatometer

53 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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Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

Jun 15

Like Lucy’s photography, Lisa Cholodenko’s film is intensely focused and intimate, capturing the complex, inner landscapes of its two central characters.

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Drew Gregory

Autostraddle

03/29/2021

Ally Sheedy plays Lucy with a sexy grime.

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Philippa Snow

New Statesman

01/21/2021

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.

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Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

3d

3.5/4

Cholodenko nails the faded milieu of queer artists, lovers, and hangers-on intersecting through sex, drugs, and art.

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Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

Jul 21

3.5/4

[Lisa] Cholodenko avoids most of the tropes associated with heroin, preventing High Art from becoming just another addiction drama, though Syd's attraction to Lucy plays like a form of addiction.

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Ian Thomas Malone

ianthomasmalone.com

Jul 6

Sheedy puts forth the best performance of her career, bringing ample depth to Lucy’s icy exterior as she explores the intricacies of sapphic yearning.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 06/11/2025

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

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Stephen D

@Stephendivenere 04/08/2025

Ally is terrific. I really enjoyed this film.

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S R

@ScottR 04/01/2025

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.

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John A

@ExcessMale 11/02/2024

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.

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John S

@RT71424423 07/10/2022

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.

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dave s

@RT68722908 08/16/2021

The majority of the characters in High Art speak in hushed whispers, seemingly disinterested in their surroundings, other than where their next fix is coming from. The remaining characters, all in the publishing business, converse in patronizing platitudes, always careful to maintain the monotone drone used to convey superiority. It's essentially the story of Lucy (Ally Sheedy), a photographer who has fallen out of the scene for a decade, and her relationship with Syd (Radha Mitchell), a photo magazine editor who tries to lure Lucy back into the world of photography. The relationship between the two leads is interesting, but the secondary characters, of which there are far too many, are vacuous and one-dimensional shells that suck the energy out of the film. In addition, much of the dialogue feels stilted or forced, which further detracts from what could have been an interesting film.

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Lisa Cholodenko

Director

Ally Sheedy

Lucy Berliner

Radha Mitchell

Syd

Patricia Clarkson

Greta

Tammy Grimes

Vera

Gabriel Mann

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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