Mapplethorpe

Switching from documentary to narrative feature for the first time, award-winning director Ondi Timoner turns her probing eye on cult photographer and transgressive queer icon Robert Mapplethorpe in this frank, intimate biopic. British screen star Matt Smith captures the late art-world rebel’s volatile charisma, while Marianne Rendón radiates febrile proto-punk energy as his sometime muse Patti Smith. Working with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation’s support, Timoner is able to punctuate grungy flashbacks to the Chelsea Hotel’s boho heyday with striking real-life examples of his controversial, daringly homoerotic work.