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Loving Highsmith

Play trailer Poster for Loving Highsmith 2022 1h 23m Biography Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
72% Tomatometer 47 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Loving Highsmith is a unique look at the life of celebrated American author Patricia Highsmith based on her diaries and notebooks and the intimate reflections of her lovers, friends and family. Focusing on Highsmith's quest for love and her troubled identity, the film sheds new light on her life and writing. Most of Highsmith's novels were adapted for the big screen; the best known of these are Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Carol, a partly autobiographic novel, was the first lesbian story with a happy ending to be published in 1950s America. But Highsmith herself was forced to lead a double life and had to hide her vibrant love affairs from her family and the public. Only in her unpublished writings did she reflect on her private life. Excerpts from these notes voiced by Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones, Top of the Lake), beautifully interwoven with archive material of her and her most famous novel adaptions, create a vivid, touching portrait of one of the most fascinating female writers.
Loving Highsmith

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Although the picture it presents of the brilliant author's life may be incomplete, Loving Highsmith remains a compelling tribute to a singular talent.

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Critics Reviews

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Stephen Romei The Australian May 8, 2023
3.5/5
What this documentary does is take us into the idiosyncratic mind of the writer... Go to Full Review Kevin Maher The Times (UK) Apr 14, 2023
1/5
But it’s the wilful refusal to engage with Highsmith’s long-nurtured bigotry — she famously dismissed the Holocaust as a failure for not murdering enough Jews — that ultimately galls. Go to Full Review Deborah Ross The Spectator Apr 13, 2023
The more you already know about Highsmith, the more you will note the omissions but it’s still interesting because she was so interesting. Go to Full Review Helen Hawkins The Arts Desk Apr 18, 2023
3/5
It’s like looking at a jigsaw with every third piece missing. Go to Full Review Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall Apr 18, 2023
3.5/5
Cleverly augmented with voiceovers from her diary entries, this is an engaging portrait of how Highsmith's love for a series of women fuelled her books. Go to Full Review Xan Brooks Observer (UK) Apr 16, 2023
3/5
A thorough, measured, often illuminating portrait, aided by readings from Highsmith’s unpublished diaries and interviews with her ex-lovers. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Richard B @RichardB12314 Feb 24, 2026 Short documentary on Patricia Highsmith's personal life. What is only intimated in her books reflects her double life as a famous writer and a lesbian looking for stable love life. There's a strength in her character to keep working but an undeniable loneliness and resentment seething underneath. See more David F @dfulmer Mar 5, 2025 This documentary takes a look at Patricia Highsmith, the writer, through her diary entries and interviews with her lovers, family members, and several interviews of herself throughout her career. Doesn’t delve too deep into her writings but captures the spirit of her life as one of the most successful midcentury novelists who went on to live a very sophisticated life in Europe where she wrote her novels, lived in England, France, and finally in Switzerland in a house she built for herself. After her childhood spent in Texas - a time to which she attributed the formation of her character - her life in expatriothood in Europe as a noted artist and intellectual was strikingly different then her life as a young girl. See more Read all reviews
Loving Highsmith

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Cast & Crew

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Eva Vitija

Director

Patricia Highsmith

Self

Gwendoline Christie

Patricia Highsmith

Annina Butterworth

Narrator

Marijane Meaker

Self

Monique Buffet

Self

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Loving Highsmith

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Movie Info

Synopsis Loving Highsmith is a unique look at the life of celebrated American author Patricia Highsmith based on her diaries and notebooks and the intimate reflections of her lovers, friends and family. Focusing on Highsmith's quest for love and her troubled identity, the film sheds new light on her life and writing. Most of Highsmith's novels were adapted for the big screen; the best known of these are Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Carol, a partly autobiographic novel, was the first lesbian story with a happy ending to be published in 1950s America. But Highsmith herself was forced to lead a double life and had to hide her vibrant love affairs from her family and the public. Only in her unpublished writings did she reflect on her private life. Excerpts from these notes voiced by Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones, Top of the Lake), beautifully interwoven with archive material of her and her most famous novel adaptions, create a vivid, touching portrait of one of the most fascinating female writers.
Director
Eva Vitija
Producer
Franziska Sonder, Maurizius Staerkle-Drux
Screenwriter
Eva Vitija
Distributor
Zeitgeist Films
Genre
Biography, Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 2, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 2, 2022
Runtime
1h 23m
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