Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)

Love Is the Devil feels less like a standard biopic than like stepping into one of Francis Bacon’s canvases—sensuous, bruised, and strangely hypnotic, with John Maybury’s direction turning Soho bars and cramped rooms into living, breathing portraiture. Derek Jacobi is magnetic as Bacon, all wit and cruelty in the same glance, while a young Daniel Craig brings aching vulnerability and physicality to George Dyer, making their attraction and damage feel inseparable. The film’s cinematography doesn’t just depict art; it translates it into cinema, using color, framing, and distorted intimacy to capture a love story that’s as intoxicating as it is corrosive. It’s not for everyone—explicit sexuality, harsh language, and emotional brutality are part of the package—but if you’re drawn to daring, adult drama that commits fully to its mood, this one lingers like a stain you can’t quite wash out.

Love Is the Devil is clearly aiming for an art-film mood piece: a feverish, painterly plunge into Francis Bacon’s Soho orbit and the self-destructive romance that follows. John Maybury nails the look and texture—striking compositions, grimy glamour, and performances that feel committed—but the film can keep you at arm’s length, as if style is doing the emotional heavy lifting. If you want a satisfying biopic with clear psychological insight or a story that builds in a conventional way, this may feel frustratingly thin and more atmospheric than illuminating. It’s best for viewers who can handle severe sex and nudity, harsh language, and a bleak, abusive dynamic, and who don’t mind leaving with impressions rather than answers.