Biographical films have developed a serious reputation problem.
The genre, a longtime Hollywood favorite, took a particularly hard hit after Bohemian Rhapsody earned blockbuster money and a shelf full of awards despite its limited thematic ambition. One glaring weakness was the film’s apparent reluctance to confront Freddie Mercury’s sexuality honestly. More broadly, studios often lean on the built-in fame of their subjects, choosing predictable prestige formulas over bold storytelling. It is little wonder audiences and critics have grown skeptical.
The latest example is Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic that has sold more than $1 billion in tickets worldwide despite the controversy surrounding its subject. The movie does not address the pedophilia allegations or lawsuits involving Jackson, while viewers seeking a counterpoint in the documentary series Leaving Neverland cannot currently stream it in the United States because of legal victories involving Jackson’s estate. In other words, Michael may have considerable power behind the scenes, but it ultimately makes for a weak and evasive biopic.
Music biopics, in particular, have supplied much of the genre’s recent disappointment. Bob Marley: One Love, Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black, and the Aretha Franklin drama Respect all settle into familiar, lifeless patterns. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere at least narrows its focus to one chapter of Bruce Springsteen’s life, yet its drama remains frustratingly thin. Elsewhere, Marilyn Monroe’s Blonde pushed the form into aggressively experimental territory with nearly disastrous results; Mark Wahlberg’s run of “based on a true story” films, including Father Stu, Joe Bell, and Arthur the King, proved largely underwhelming; and Reagan is best left undiscussed.
Still, this is not an invitation to dismiss every recent biopic. The strongest rebuttal to Michael may be Tony, the Anthony Bourdain drama led by Dominic Sessa. The film is currently thriving on Rotten Tomatoes, with approval scores of 93 percent from critics and 92 percent from audiences. Now available on VOD platforms, Tony offers hope that the genre can move toward something more thoughtful. With that in mind, here are the best post-Bohemian Rhapsody biopics—the ones that genuinely work:
The most obvious entry is also the biggest: Oppenheimer came within a few million dollars of earning $1 billion worldwide and went on to win seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Christopher Nolan. Its story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb is grand in scale, historical importance, and ambition. Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. headline an extraordinary ensemble that also includes Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and Florence Pugh. Even though roughly 95 percent of the film consists of people talking in rooms, Nolan keeps every exchange charged with cinematic tension. The remaining five percent is the Trinity test—a sequence that is both spectacular and deeply terrifying.
Where to stream oppenheimer
For a sharp contrast, consider a story with almost no historical consequence at all. Set in the 1970s, Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game follows Roger Sharpe, an ordinary man who fought to overturn New York City’s ban on pinball, a game once deemed immoral by particularly joyless authorities. Challengers star Mike Faist plays Sharpe with an enormous mustache and an infectious optimism, treating pinball as a metaphor for life: the ball will eventually drain, so the point is to enjoy the game while it lasts. The result is a charming, wildly entertaining gem that deserves a much larger audience.
Where to stream pinball: the man who saved the game
Rock-star biopics almost inevitably turn their subjects into legends, but Rocketman embraces that impulse without apology. Elton John’s rise to fame becomes a lavish, full-scale musical, filled with inventive set pieces that go far beyond standard concert recreations. Yes, it is fundamentally a jukebox musical, but its flamboyant visual language captures Elton’s spirit far more effectively than the restrained formulas that define so many films in the genre.
Where to stream Rocketman
Daniel Kaluuya delivers an Oscar-winning master class as Fred Hampton, the charismatic leader of the Black Panther Party. His speeches crackle with authority, while director Shaka King stages the film’s confrontations with the visceral intensity of Michael Mann. Released during the COVID-era disruption, Judas and the Black Messiah has too often been overlooked. The film—and especially Kaluuya’s commanding performance—deserves renewed attention.
Where to stream Judas and the Black Messiah
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I approached this one ready to object. Timothée Chalamet, Hollywood’s reigning It Boy, was playing Bob Dylan, and the project seemed designed to irritate traditionalist Dylan fans who might dismiss the young star as a handsome actor performing karaoke and imitating Dylan’s famously nasal, unconventional singing. Instead, A Complete Unknown uses the mystery surrounding Dylan’s identity and mythology as part of its creative engine. The performances are playful and substantial, while the music does more than recreate the past—it reinforces the film’s ideas about reinvention and artistic control.
Where to stream A Complete Unknown
I should also admit that professional wrestling has never been my thing. Yet The Iron Claw largely sets aside the sport’s exaggerated kayfabe to deliver a gripping account of the Von Erich brothers and the relentless tragedy that shaped their lives. Their father, played by an inspired Holt McCallany, raises them to become wrestling lifers, while Jeremy Allen White, Zac Efron, and Harris Dickinson bring remarkable emotional force to the brothers in the ring. They may be flamboyant showmen in singlets, but the suffering beneath the spectacle feels painfully real.
Where to stream The Iron Claw
Bradley Cooper occasionally pushes too hard to turn this Leonard Bernstein biopic into a capital-A Artwork, and the results can be uneven. Even so, his visual ambition is impossible to deny. Cooper is magnetic as Bernstein, while Carey Mulligan brings extraordinary depth to Felicia Montealegre, the composer’s long-suffering wife. Maestro is not flawless, but its willingness to take formal risks is precisely what the biopic genre needs more of.
Where to stream Maestro
John “Divine G” Whitfield helped establish the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program during his 25 years in prison. In Sing Sing, the extraordinary Colman Domingo plays Divine G with both tenderness and commanding strength as he helps fellow incarcerated men process trauma, regret, longing, and hope by creating and performing a play. Several real-life RTA alumni appear alongside him, giving performances of remarkable honesty and emotional power. It is the kind of film that stays with you long after the credits roll.
Where to stream sing sing
Pablo Larrain directs this delightfully nuts quasi-bio of Princess Diana like it’s a horror film. Kristen Stewart stars as the reluctant Royal who’s trapped within Palace procedures and traditions — but she’s relatable to commonfolk since she’s also stuck in an unhappy marriage with children she wants to protect from emotional harm, and the world’s most disapproving mother-in-law. The suffocating scenario peaks with a dinner sequence depicting the most miserable instance of soup-supping in cinema history. It’s an awful shade of green, the soup. So, so gross. Kafka’s estate probably should’ve earned a few points from the box office of this one.
Where to stream spencer
Maybe this one should’ve been on our list of the best movie spoofs, since it uses the life of music-parody superstar “Weird” Al Yankovic as an excuse to give the ol’ music-biopic formula a righteous Walk Hard-style rogering. A bewigged Daniel Radcliffe lip-synchs and pretend-accordions his way through the title role, and the movie captures the goofy spirit of its subject. The fact that it’s a Roku Channel original adds an extra layer of LOLs.
Where to stream Weird: the al yankovic story
John Serba is a freelance film critic from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Werner Herzog hugged him once.
