Almost a decade since larger-than-life glam-rock enigma Brian Slade disappeared from public eye, an investigative journalist is on assignment to uncover the truth behind his former idol.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.3/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.83/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 64%
Metacritic: 65
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
Todd Haynes
Production
Zenith Entertainment, Killer Films, Single Cell Pictures, Newmarket Capital Group, Goldwyn Films, Miramax
Cast
Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Toni Collette, Christian Bale, Suzy Eddie Izzard, Emily Woof, Michael Feast, Janet McTeer, Mairead McKinley, Luke Morgan Oliver, Osheen Jones, Micko Westmoreland, Damian Suchet, Danny Nutt, Wash Westmoreland, Don Fellows, Ganiat Kasumu, Ray Shell, Alastair Cumming, Zoe Boyce
Curator Review
Verdict
A glitter-soaked, queer rock fantasia that treats fame, identity, and desire as performance art. It’s messy on purpose, visually inventive, and more interested in mood and myth than strict biography.
Best for
fans of glam rock and art-pop cinema
viewers who like nonlinear, self-aware storytelling
people drawn to queer subtext and camp aesthetics
audiences who enjoy stylized period pieces with a strong visual identity
Skip if
you want a straightforward music biopic
you dislike fragmented narratives
you prefer grounded realism over theatrical excess
you’re not in the mood for flamboyant, self-consciously arty filmmaking
Overview
Todd Haynes turns the rock biopic inside out, making a film that feels less like a history lesson than a fever dream about stardom, sexuality, and reinvention. The structure is deliberately slippery: an investigation into a vanished idol becomes a meditation on how pop myths are manufactured and consumed.
Worth noting
What gives the film its charge is the collision of style and vulnerability. The costumes, color, and music are all maximalist, but the movie is also haunted by loneliness, performance anxiety, and the cost of becoming an icon. It’s playful, but never empty.
Bottom line
For viewers open to its wavelength, Velvet Goldmine is intoxicating. It’s one of the rare music films that understands glam not just as a look or a sound, but as a way of remaking the self in public.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Ellie ✨ (4.5★) · 6047 likes
i think about these tweets daily:
@nataliefisher: .@mcgregor_ewan do you think Curt Wild lived happily ever with Arthur after the end scene of VG? No pressure but my happiness depends on it.@mcgregor_ewan: Yes they did. They live in North London. They run a recording studio. Sober. Kids. All good.
emilia (5★) · 4789 likes
this movie invented platform shoes, bisexuality, glitter, ewan mcgregor's penis, nonlinear narration, the concept of unauthorized biopics, etc, etc.
Jasmine (4★) · 3958 likes
Cool movie based on Todd Haynes' own David Bowie/Iggy Pop fanfiction.
amaya (4★) · 3773 likes
batman jerking off to obi-wan kenobi
liIy (5★) · 3440 likes
what’s your favorite newspaper headline in this? i think mine is “camp isn’t just a row of tents”