There has been no shortage of biopics in recent years, with Blonde, Elvis, and Till all released in 2022. So many, in fact, that audience members were confused by the fact that TÁR is not a biopic, with many leaving the theater looking up her story. Similarly to documentaries, these movies are enticing to those who are already aware of and interested in the story and those who want to learn more. However, unlike documentaries, these narratives can be packed with star power and embellished moments. There’s also the element of celebrity culture involved with the success of biopics. Talking to Vulture, awards campaign strategist Lea Yardum says, “Modern audiences are used to knowing everything about their favorite celebrities,” adding that “it’s a logical next step to want to go even deeper.” With that built-in promise of an audience, biopics are all the rage.
In this list, there are entries that range from stricter accounts of the writers’ lives to stories more loosely based on the experiences had by the authors in question. So, whatever your preferences are, there will be something up your alley. From well-known heavyweight authors including Oscar Wilde and Virginia Woolf to some lesser-known writers such as Lee Israel, you can watch a story you know well, or discover something new.
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9 Kafka (1991)
Miramax
Kafka is directed by Steven Soderbergh and tells the story of Czech novelist Franz Kafka. The movie stars Jeremy Irons in the lead role and is shot in gorgeous black and white. Using a mix of biography, interpretation, and speculation, we uncover the story of a tortured artist. We find Kafka working in the daytime working at an insurance company until things take a conspiratorial turn. While it is successfully playful, it fails to find a consistent tone. This messiness is not helped by Irons, who is seemingly miscast, and certainly not doing his best work.
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8 Infamous (2006)
Arclight Films
The cast of Infamous is packed with stars, such as Toby Jones as Truman Capote, Sandra Bullock as Harper Lee, and Daniel Craig as Perry Smith, to name a few. The plot follows childhood friends Capote and Lee as they develop a complex relationship with murderer Perry Smith. The events that unfold display how Capote went on to write his novel In Cold Blood. It’s an entertaining film that is not unsuccessful by any means, it simply lacks some of the strengths present in other works on this list.
7 The Happy Prince (2018)
Beta Cinema
Written and directed by, and also starring, Rupert Everett, The Happy Prince tells the story of Oscar Wilde’s final few years in Paris. The film itself is very touching and has clearly been made with care for its subject. Its narrative contains a fitting mix of beauty and ugliness, not shying away from Wilde’s complexities. However, in between the moments of great profundity, we are left with slow sections that drag down the rest of the story.
6 Colette (2018)
Bleecker Street Media
Colette tells the story of the French author of the same name. We watch as she first gets published under her husband’s name and as she fights to have her own recognized. As a period drama, it is refreshing to have discussions of gender and sexuality included here rather than erased as they so often are. It’s a confident and stylish movie that will no doubt be entertaining to anyone who doesn’t know the fascinating story and also for those who do.
5 Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)
Searchlight Pictures
Now, the story of a lesser-known author: Lee Israel. Melissa McCarthy plays this writer who falls out of favor with the public and is left with no way of making money. She turns to forgery after realizing how much she could make from selling letters sent by more famous writers. Can You Ever Forgive Me? also stars Richard E. Grant and is directed by Marielle Heller. The movie is charming, funny, and poignant; it does an excellent job of telling this little-known story.
4 Shirley (2020)
Neon
Based on a novel of the same name about Shirley Jackson, Shirley is not the typical biopic. It takes inspiration from real facts of her life and mixes them with imagined scenarios, coming up with events that could have inspired one of her novels. In Shirley, Jackson and her husband, played by Elizabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg, respectively, take in a young married couple to live with them. Things start to get out of hand with Jackson’s drinking, and the tone becomes increasingly sinister, which is fitting for a Shirley Jackson biopic.
3 Wild Nights with Emily (2018)
Greenwich Entertainment
A refreshing take on poet Emily Dickinson’s life, starring Molly Shannon as Dickinson herself. Rather than going down the usual route of interpretation that pigeonholes Dickinson as a reclusive, quiet shut-in, Wild Nights with Emily allows humor into her life. The levity afforded to her creates a thoroughly enjoyable watch that allows insight into a more animated portrayal of Dickinson’s life than we have seen before.
2 Emily (2022)
Bleecker Street Films
This Emily refers to Emily Brontë, author of Wuthering Heights. Similarly to Shirley and Kafka, this movie takes a certain amount of liberties with the subject’s real experiences. Emily is very much a loose interpretation of her experiences, but one that makes sense looking back on who she is now as a historical figure. The movie is playful, creative, and visually impressive. It makes for a really vivid entryway into Emily Brontë’s world.
1 Vita & Virginia (2018)
IFC Films
Although it focuses on the latter, Vita & Virginia combines two writers’ stories: Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf. The subject of the movie is the romantic relationship between the two women and how that helped Woolf to conceive her novel Orlando. It’s heavily romantic, empowering, and touching. When speaking to Women and Hollywood, director Chanya Button says she chose this moment of Woolf’s life to explore because she “always felt it something of a betrayal that her death has become a defining part of her identity. [Their relationship] stands out for me as a moment of profound triumph for Virginia.” This doesn’t mean that the movie shies away from Woolf’s psychological challenges, but it does not allow them to overtake the other aspects of her personality.
