Film

Basquiat

Name: Basquiat
Genre: Drama, History
Released: 1996
Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott, Benicio del Toro, Claire Forlani, David Bowie

Biopic

Julian Schnabel's portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat captures the Haitian-Puerto Rican prodigy who exploded from the New York street art scene into the gallery world, only to burn out fast. It's a sensory, restless film—urgent and fragmentary, matching Basquiat's own aesthetic. For anyone drawn to genius, ambition, self-destruction, and the 1980s art world's intoxicating chaos.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love films that feel like the art they portray, with restless, collage-style editing, a loud downtown New York scene and a portrait built from mood and texture rather than a neat timeline.

Skip it if you want a tidy, chronological biography with clear cause and effect, because this one circles its subject and can feel scattered, and drug use is shown without much cushioning.

What it asks of you: Settle in for just under two hours of loose, restless images that unfold by feeling rather than plot, and let its rhythm carry you past the moments that don't quite land.

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The wildcard

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