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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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78% Tomatometer 49 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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High Art

High Art

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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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Critics Reviews

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Drew Gregory Autostraddle 03/29/2021
Ally Sheedy plays Lucy with a sexy grime. Go to Full Review 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. Go to Full Review Alyx Vesey Bitch Media 01/11/2021
[Ally Sheedy's] excellent as Berliner. Go to Full Review Manuel Betancourt FilmWeek (LAist) May 20
A high-water mark for what queer cinema was in the 1990s. Go to Full Review Anthony Bell Our Own Community Press (Norfolk, VA) 05/03/2023
Strong performances by [a] supporting cast keep this film energized through its very last scene Go to Full Review Aviva Dove-Viebahn Ms. Magazine 06/24/2021
Twenty-two years later, High Art...resonates simultaneously as a timeless meditation on love, loss and art and as a trenchant drama, Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Stephen C @bob25009 Jun 11 Pride in 1 hour and 42 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can like anyone, anytime, anywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Stephen D @Stephendivenere 04/08/2025 Ally is terrific. I really enjoyed this film. See more 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. See more 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. See more Frans G @RT49050347 05/27/2024 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. See more 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. See more Read all reviews
High Art

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Cast & Crew

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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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High Art

High Art (1998) High Art (1998) View more photos

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
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