Film

Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon

Name: Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
Genre: Drama
Released: 1998
Cast: Derek Jacobi, Daniel Craig, Tilda Swinton, Anne Lambton, Adrian Scarborough

Biopic
Romance
Very dark

A severe, beautiful study of the relationship between Francis Bacon and George Dyer in 1960s London. Derek Jacobi gives a masterclass in coiled rage and artistic genius; Daniel Craig is transfixing as the working-class man caught in Bacon's orbit. It's intimate and unflinching, shot through with genuine tenderness beneath the chaos. For viewers ready for sex, violence, and the mess of desire.

TMDb rating

3.1

If you liked this

A Bigger Splash2015

Luca Guadagnino's film about artists, desire, and volatile chemistry. Ralph Fiennes dominates like Bacon does here—magnetic, cruel, magnetic again. The Italian Riviera glitters while everything underneath rots.

But Slower and more sensual than plot-driven. If you want narrative momentum, you'll find it frustrating.

My Beautiful Laundrette1985

Stephen Frears directed this intimate portrait of a relationship between men from different worlds in Thatcher's London. Like Bacon and Dyer, it captures class collision, desire, and the specific texture of that era.

But Deliberately low-key and intimate in a way that can feel slight if you're expecting grandeur. Some dated production values.

The Leather Boys1964

A raw, unsentimental look at a relationship between two working-class men in 1960s Britain. Tender and tough. It has the same refusal to make the relationship digestible or redemptive.

But Bleak ending. Doesn't offer comfort or resolution, which some viewers find punishing rather than moving.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Naked Lunch1991

Both use their medium—paint, film—to render the interior of addiction and desire as visual eruption. Both refuse to make their chaos beautiful or forgivable.

Cronenberg's adaptation of Burroughs. Hallucinatory, grotesque, sexually charged. Like Bacon, it's a descent into the body and appetite as language. Both are fever dreams about what desire destroys.

But Genuinely disturbing. The imagery is intentionally repulsive. Body horror and sexual degradation are the point, not incidentals.

Mank2020

Another portrait of a difficult, brilliant man destroying himself and everyone near him. Gary Oldman as Mankiewicz, surrounded by hangers-on and sycophants. The visual language is intoxicated and precise.

But Fincher's cool distance can feel detached. If you want warmth in your cinema, this isn't it.

The Imitation Game2014

A biographical film about a brilliant, closeted man whose genius and emotional damage are inseparable. Benedict Cumberbatch captures isolation and arrogance with real poignancy.

But More conventional dramatically than Bacon. It smooths some edges that the best biopics leave jagged.

Sid and Nancy1986

Alex Cox's punk elegy about self-destruction and impossible love. It has the same 16mm urgency, the same refusal to look away from addiction and chaos.

But Deliberately ugly and often hard to watch. If you're queasy about drug use or violence, this won't relent.

Weekend2011

Andrew Haigh's film about two men meeting in a nightclub and spending a weekend together. Shot through with class difference, desire, and the knowledge that this is temporary. Deeply humane.

But Explicitly sexual in a way that can make some viewers uncomfortable. Also genuinely tender, which isn't everyone's taste together.

Looking2014

HBO series following three men in San Francisco navigating desire, work, and aging. Each season deepens. It shares Bacon's interest in how desire shapes identity and how love corrodes.

But The first season can feel aimless. It gets better but requires investment before it clicks.

Safe1995

Both films refuse to offer their subjects redemption or explanation. Both use the body—Moore's rejection, Bacon and Dyer's entanglement—as the site of their inquiry.

Todd Haynes' film about a woman who becomes allergic to the world. Julianne Moore's performance is all repulsion, isolation, and a search for belonging. Like Bacon and Dyer, it's about bodies that reject their environment.

But Formally austere and withholding. It's a criticism, not a comfort. The ending leaves no exit. Some find it unbearably bleak.