Mapplethorpe

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1:44

Mapplethorpe

2019

1h 42m

Biography

Drama

LGBTQ+

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

34%

Tomatometer

56 Reviews

48%

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

Mar 10, 2020

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.

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Matthew Lickona

San Diego Reader

Mar 22, 2019

0/5

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?

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Mark Jenkins

Washington Post

Mar 13, 2019

1.5/4

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.

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Brian T. Carney

Washington Blade

Dec 7, 2022

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

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Michael Cuby

them.

Nov 1, 2022

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

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Ben Turner

The Pink Lens

Sep 1, 2021

3/5

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.

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Garry A

@heavyg Jun 12, 2026

If you love the male body and enjoy a lot of nudity then this is the film for you.

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Wayne S

@RT68546497 Sep 19, 2025

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.

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Bruce M

@RT84479987 Nov 27, 2022

Not as bad as i thought it would be

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Jul 6, 2021

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.

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Dec 7, 2020

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.

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Jul 21, 2019

Matt Smith is amazing as Mapplethorpe!

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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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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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