A Complete Unknown, a biopic about the life of musician Bob Dylan portrayed by Timothée Chalamet, releases this Christmas. Sam Mendes is set to direct four upcoming biopics about The Beatles, with each of films focusing on one member of the iconic rock band. In 2025, Michael Jackson will be the focus of what’s been described as a “riveting and honest portrayal” of the king of pop. And that’s only a few of the films that have been announced and are set for release. Biopics, a once highly regarded genre, are now so pervasive that audiences see them as a dime a dozen.
A biopic is a film that dramatizes the life of a person or group of people, capturing significant events, life challenges and sometimes uncovering unknown aspects of the person(s) being depicted. Often referred to as, “Oscar bait,” nearly a fifth of all acting Oscars have been awarded for biographical stories. At the 96th Oscars this year, Oppenheimer took home seven awards including Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Picture for its depiction of the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Biopics and their critical acclaim go back decades with biopics then being focused on historical figures such as Cleopatra, Joan of Arc and Napoleon.
Financially successful and critically acclaimed modern biopics tend to cast well-known actors who undergo significant transformations to fully embody their roles. Some notable examples include Charlize Theron as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s Monster or Christian Bale as Dick Cheney in Vice. Biopics can tackle any public or historical figure, from serial killers to politicians to athletes, but none are more popular than those that depict musicians. The success of films like the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody spawned several musical biopics in recent years, contributing to growing oversaturation in the genre.
These kinds of films often follow a formulaic structure, starting with the subject’s early life, transitioning into their career, chronicling their rise to fame and interpersonal struggles. By the film’s end, the subject has bounced back from those struggles and the story is wrapped up nicely. In an attempt to capture the essence of the subject, biopics typically include recreations of their most memorable performances, aiming to both remind the audience of those moments and showcase how well the filmmakers and the actors were able to replicate them. This formula that attempts to cram someone’s entire life into a three-act structure rarely works.
A common pitfall of biopics focusing on deceased figures is the uncertainty of how much of the story is accurate. For example, Bohemian Rhapsody was heavily criticized for its inaccuracies, particularly in its portrayal of the band Queen and its frontman Freddie Mercury. In 2018, after the film’s release, Sheila O’Malley of RogerEbert.Com wrote, “Bohemian Rhapsody is bad in the way a lot of biopics are bad: it’s superficial, it avoids complexity, and the narrative has a connect-the-dots quality.” Similarly, this year’s Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black was criticized for sanitizing the late singer’s tumultuous life in favor of a more palatable film for general audiences. Biopics often strip away the complexities of their real-life subjects, resulting in unsatisfying films that the viewer doesn’t take much away from.
While many recent biopics are criticized for being overly simplistic and uninspired, the argument can also be made that many of them are exploitative, profiting off of the life of someone without their input. The Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, released in 2022, was panned for dwelling excessively on the pain and suffering Monroe endured throughout her life, particularly at the hands of the men around her. While there were some truths to the events depicted in the film it felt as though the film was fixated on that aspect of her life.
In contrast, biopics of living subjects are often better received when the subjects have direct creative input, allowing for a more accurate and balanced portrayal. Elton John’s biopic of his own life, Rocketman, was produced by both him and his husband David Furnish. Where Bohemian Rhapsody downplayed aspects of Mercuy’s life and sexuality, John made a point to include those aspects, writing in The Observer, “They wanted to tone down the sex and drugs. But I haven’t led a PG-13 life.”
This year has seen the release and announcement of biopics that aim to challenge traditional biographical film frameworks. For instance, Pharrell Williams’ biopic, Piece by Piece, uses LEGO animation to depict the musician’s life story. Similarly, the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man will tell his life story through the lens of a CGI monkey as a stand-in for the British pop singer. It’s unclear whether or not these films will spark a new interest in the genre as a whole, but a change to the formula is certainly a start.
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