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High Art

Play trailer Poster for High Art R 1998 1h 42m Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
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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.
High Art

What to Know

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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Critics Reviews

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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 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 Full Review Ren Jender Bitch Flicks The film's treatment of women's sexuality is a nice contrast to the lesbian-bed-death clichés (and anti-chemistry) of Julianne Moore and Annette Bening in [Lisa] Cholodenko's more recent The Kids Are All Right. Mar 12, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (322) audience reviews
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 Full Review 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 Delorian C I loved the art part of it. The photography, the advancing her career, the nice cars, the cigarettes, the lighting, the neighborly exploration. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 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 dave s 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. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review gretta j I loved the art part of it. The photography, the advancing her career, the nice cars, the cigarettes, the lighting, the neighborly exploration. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
High Art

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Movie Info

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
Production Co
391 Productions, October Films, Antidote Films
Rating
R
Genre
Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 10, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.9M
Runtime
1h 42m
Sound Mix
Surround