Mapplethorpe

Play trailer

1:44

Mapplethorpe

2019

1h 42m

Biography

Drama

LGBTQ+

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

34%

Tomatometer

56 Reviews

53%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

A chronicle of the career of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his death in 1989 at the age of 42.

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Critics Consensus

Mapplethorpe's conventional biopic approach to a decidedly unconventional artist undermines its efforts to convey the gifts that made its subject special.

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Marissa De La Cerda

Chicago Reader

Another entry in the list of biopics (like Bohemian Rhapsody) that reduce the career of an iconoclast to a formulaic biopic that refuses to scratch beneath the surface.

Mar 10, 2020

Full Review

Matthew Lickona

San Diego Reader

How do you hew so close to biopic conventions -a dutiful recitation of this event happened, this fame arrived, that tragedy struck, etc - when you're dealing with an artist whose whole raison d'etre was finding beauty at the extreme edges of things?

Rated: 0/5

Mar 22, 2019

Full Review

Mark Jenkins

Washington Post

If the new biopic "Mapplethorpe" presents this transgressive vision is vivid detail - and it does - that's only because it includes so many of Mapplethorpe's pictures. Everything else in the film is timid and pedestrian.

Rated: 1.5/4

Mar 13, 2019

Full Review

Brian T. Carney

Washington Blade

...for anyone who’s not familiar with Mapplethorpe’s life and work, the film is a great introduction to this recent queer hero.

Dec 7, 2022

Full Review

Michael Cuby

them.

Mapplethorpe is a compelling look at one of our nation’s most enduringly controversial provocateurs.

Nov 1, 2022

Full Review

Ben Turner

The Pink Lens

exploring the psychology of one of the most challenging photographers in history makes for fairly interesting viewing, even if its execution is about as artistic as an Argos catalogue.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 1, 2021

Full Review

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Wayne S

It's a biopic, and as such it's a fairly uncreative approach like so many others are. But films such as this rest on the performance of the actor playing the subject. Here Matt Smith is terrific and convincing. In fact all performances are excellent and sell it as a engrossing look at Mapplethorpe's life.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/19/25

Full Review

Laura D

Engrossing. 1970s NYC, Patti Smith, the Chelsea.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/06/23

Full Review

Bruce M

Not as bad as i thought it would be

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/27/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Matt Smith is extraordinary in this biopic of the controversial photographer. It is a full on sex, drugs and rock and roll story set against the dizzying background of New York in the 1970s and 1980s and the movie really confronts the nature of Mapplethorpe's work. If you have ever seen his photographs and wondered about the man behind the lens, you need to see this film.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The writer & director cowered at the opportunity a movie about Mapplethorpe gave them. While I commend the filmmakers for not flinching in showing some of Mapplethorpe’s work, this biopic is as bland as I heated chicken broth. How can you make a movie about such an icon and have so little to share about his life, method and motivation.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/07/20

Full Review

Audience Member

Matt Smith is amazing as Mapplethorpe!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/21/19

Full Review

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Ondi Timoner

Director

Matt Smith

Robert Mapplethorpe

Marianne Rendón

Patti Smith

John Benjamin Hickey

Sam Wagstaff

Brandon Sklenar

Edward Mapplethorpe

McKinley Belcher III

Milton Moore

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Mapplethorpe: Trailer 1

1:44

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Synopsis

A chronicle of the career of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his death in 1989 at the age of 42.

Director: Ondi Timoner
Producer: Richard J. Bosner, Eliza Dushku, Nate Dushku, Ondi Timoner
Screenwriter: Ondi Timoner, Mikko Alanne
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Production Co: Interloper Films, Boston Diva Productions
Genre: Biography, Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 1, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 6, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $91.0K
Runtime: 1h 42m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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