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McQueen

Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with gothic intrigue. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of the mesmerizing world ---both tortured and inspirational --- of radical fashion designer Alexander McQueen.
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WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING?

Hannah Benson Profile picture for Hannah Benson

Vaguely familiar with Alexander McQueen before watching this, I left the theater impressed by him and his impact. One of the best parts of the documentary is the amazing show footage. McQueen's fashion shows were essentially performance art. I found it interesting how the film is structured by making each show represent an era of his unfortunately too short life. It was interesting to learn more about what goes into building a fashion brand from his days at school in London to working in Paris.

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WHAT ARE CRITICS SAYING?

80

Empire by Andrew Lowry

A solid if, given its subject, oddly workmanlike documentary, this makes a very good case both that the fashion world had a genius on its hands, and that they didn’t have a clue what to do with him.
100

The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney

McQueen is a haunting story of extravagant talent and inescapable private sorrow, made with exquisite craftsmanship worthy of its subject. While a narrative biopic has been in development for years, this excellent documentary delivers an eye-popping, emotionally wrenching experience that paints a fully dimensional portrait of a complex artist.
75

Slant Magazine by Diego Semerene

As Ian Bonhôte's documentary reveals, Alexander McQueen's suicide was perhaps the all-too-predictable ending to a history of violence.
90

New York Magazine (Vulture) by Emily Yoshida

Thanks to a beautifully lush, moody score by Michael Nyman and great sound editing, even a fan who has pored over these archives obsessively will see them in a new light. What McQueen reminds those obsessives and laypeople alike is that fashion is an incredibly emotional art form, and McQueen’s work was some of the most moving there was or ever will be.
90

Variety by Guy Lodge

Itself crafted with great artistry and ingenuity, McQueen works both as a spectacular visual album of his work and an achingly moving account of the incomplete life behind it.
80

Slate by Inkoo Kang

Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s smartest tactic — the one that makes McQueen such a pleasure to watch, even for fashion outsiders — is giving viewers a front-row seat to the runway, then letting us judge the designer’s oeuvre for ourselves.
83

The A.V. Club by Katie Rife

A film that’s refreshingly free of the gushing sound bites from sycophantic celebrities that too often dominate fashion documentaries.
90

Village Voice by Kyle Turner

The difference between McQueen and the standard tortured genius documentary lies in the kind of artist McQueen was: Behind the (sometimes incendiary, sometimes infantile) provocations in his designs was a clear humanity, his garments the unfiltered expressions of his emotions and ideas.

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