Kinsey is a portrait of researcher Alfred Kinsey, driven to uncover the most private secrets of a nation. What begins for Kinsey as a scientific endeavor soon takes on an intensely personal relevance, ultimately becoming an unexpected journey into the mystery of human behavior.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.3/10
IMDb: 7.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.37/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Metacritic: 79
TMDB: 6.6/10
Director
Bill Condon
Production
Fox Searchlight Pictures, Qwerty Films, N1 European Film Produktions, Pretty Pictures, American Zoetrope, Myriad Pictures
Cast
Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, Tim Curry, Oliver Platt, Dylan Baker, Julianne Nicholson, William Sadler, John McMartin, Veronica Cartwright, Kathleen Chalfant, Heather Goldenhersh, Dagmara Dominczyk, John Krasinski, Arden Myrin, David Harbour, Luke Macfarlane
Curator Review
Verdict
A thoughtful, adult biopic that treats sexual research as both a scientific and cultural provocation. It’s a bit conventional in structure, but the performances and the subject’s taboo-breaking force make it engaging and worthwhile.
Best for
viewers interested in sex, psychology, and social history
fans of prestige biopics with strong performances
people curious about mid-century American repression and reform
audiences who like issue-driven dramas that still feel humane
Skip if
you want a highly stylized or formally adventurous biopic
you’re looking for a fast-paced drama with lots of plot twists
you prefer films that stay emotionally intimate over survey-style storytelling
the subject matter of sexuality and frank discussion makes you uncomfortable
Overview
Kinsey is a smart, accessible biopic about a man whose work changed how America talked about sex. Bill Condon keeps the film clear and polished, even when the material is provocative, and Liam Neeson gives the role a surprising mix of authority, awkwardness, and vulnerability.
Worth noting
The movie’s biggest strength is its willingness to treat sexual inquiry as serious intellectual work rather than mere scandal. It also benefits from strong support around Neeson, especially Laura Linney, who gives the domestic material real weight.
Bottom line
At the same time, it does lean on familiar prestige-biopic rhythms, which can make it feel more dutiful than daring. Still, for viewers interested in the collision of science, morality, and personal identity, it remains an absorbing and unusually candid studio drama.
Top Letterboxd reviews
soupgeorg (3★) · 362 likes
liam neeson plays a bisexual (autistic?) professor with canonically huge cock. what’s not to like
blythe roberson (4★) · 195 likes
in which a 51-year-old Liam Neeson is cast as a 27-year-old virgin with a (this is canon) huge cock
Wood (3★) · 140 likes
I'm not a big fan of how it was technically made, very biopicy and visually lacking. It seems weird to take such a safe route when telling the of a revolutionary and interesting subject. However I did adore Liam Neeson talking about jerking off for most of the run time.
Jordan Brown (4★) · 111 likes
There's a scene in this movie where someone says that oral sex is illegal in Indiana. As a lifelong Hoosier, this caught my interest and I was like 'huh, I wonder when that changed?' and I looked into it. Guess what.
Oral Sex is STILL technically illegal in Indiana in 2018.