Overview
A dazzling exploration of identity and fame in the glittering world of glam rock.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- surreal
- flamboyant
- sensual
- music movie night
- glam rock retrospective
What critics said
Critics broadly admired the film’s dazzling music, camera work, theatrical production design, and ambitious surreal narrative, while finding its plot diffuse and less cohesive than its individual parts.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Maxwell Demon's persona, glittering costumes, surreal imagery, and operatic staging transform 1970s rock culture into an extravagant fantasia.
Arthur Stuart's journalism-led search reconstructs Brian Slade through memories and accounts from people connected to his career.
Brian Slade reinvents himself as Maxwell Demon, using androgynous imagery and glam rock theatricality to reshape both his career and selfhood.
The film reimagines the glam rock era through fictional performers and an imagined band while echoing the era's celebrity rituals and scandals.
Films like Velvet Goldmine, and why
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
glam rock music drama, gender performance, and extravagant visual theatricality
Citizen Kane
music journalism, fractured recollection, and a searching investigation into a charismatic rock figure
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
lgbtq+ identity, musical subculture, and heightened period style
I'm Not There
surreal music biography, performer mythology, and emotionally volatile creative relationships
Movie Details
- Director
- Todd Haynes
- Release Date
- 1998-08-28
- Runtime
- 123 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (559)
Cast
- Ewan McGregor
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers
- Toni Collette
- Christian Bale
- Suzy Eddie Izzard
- Emily Woof
- Michael Feast
- Janet McTeer
- Mairead McKinley
- Luke Morgan Oliver
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Velvet Goldmine about?
- A journalist’s search for a vanished glam-rock idol becomes a surreal reckoning with performance, desire, and the identities music lets outsiders invent.
- What is Velvet Goldmine like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Velvet Goldmine as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Velvet Goldmine violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Velvet Goldmine as mild.
- What did critics think of Velvet Goldmine?
- Critics broadly admired the film’s dazzling music, camera work, theatrical production design, and ambitious surreal narrative, while finding its plot diffuse and less cohesive than its individual parts.
- Which films are like Velvet Goldmine?
- Films with a similar feel include The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Citizen Kane, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and I'm Not There.
- How long is Velvet Goldmine?
- Velvet Goldmine runs 123 minutes.
- Where can I watch Velvet Goldmine?
- In United States, Velvet Goldmine streams on Criterion Channel.
