All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
An intimate artist portrait becomes a fierce reckoning with addiction, queer memory, and the cultural power that enabled the opioid crisis.
Overview
An artist's fight against a powerful dynasty reveals the dark side of fame and fortune.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- gritty
- melancholic
- confrontational
- social justice viewing
- documentary night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Laura Poitras's documentary as an acclaimed, powerful collaboration with Nan Goldin that fuses intimate biography, photographic memory, and political investigation.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Nan Goldin's biography is intercut with her P.A.I.N. activism targeting the Sackler family's philanthropic influence.
Goldin's photographs and personal images shape the film's account of queer community, addiction, grief, and memory.
The campaign confronts museums and galleries that accepted Sackler donations while the opioid crisis continued.
Goldin's recollections connect family trauma, queer identity, AIDS-era loss, and underground artistic communities.
Films like All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, and why
Citizenfour
shared focus on politically engaged documentary filmmaking, institutional accountability, and contemporary American power
The Salt of the Earth
shared portrait of an artist whose personal history becomes a lens on social crisis, memory, and activism
How to Survive a Plague
shared use of archival material and personal testimony to examine queer history, loss, and resistance
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
shared investigative documentary approach to corporate responsibility and the human cost of systemic harm
Movie Details
- Director
- Laura Poitras
- Release Date
- 2022-11-23
- Runtime
- 122 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (176)
Cast
- Nan Goldin
- Marina Berio
- Noemi Bonazzi
- Harry Cullen
- Megan Kapler
- Annatina Miescher
- Mike Quinn
- Patrick Radden Keefe
- Darryl Pinckney
- Maggie Smith
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex
- 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 All the Beauty and the Bloodshed about?
- An intimate artist portrait becomes a fierce reckoning with addiction, queer memory, and the cultural power that enabled the opioid crisis.
- What is All the Beauty and the Bloodshed like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of All the Beauty and the Bloodshed as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is All the Beauty and the Bloodshed violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.
- What did critics think of All the Beauty and the Bloodshed?
- Critics broadly regard Laura Poitras's documentary as an acclaimed, powerful collaboration with Nan Goldin that fuses intimate biography, photographic memory, and political investigation.
- Which films are like All the Beauty and the Bloodshed?
- Films with a similar feel include Citizenfour, The Salt of the Earth, How to Survive a Plague, and The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.
- How long is All the Beauty and the Bloodshed?
- All the Beauty and the Bloodshed runs 122 minutes.
- Where can I watch All the Beauty and the Bloodshed?
- In United States, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max.
