Niki

It’s a shame that Sallette’s film, ultimately conventional despite some stylish split-screen and Le Bon’s intricate performance, couldn’t have been just a little inspired by the same spirit of iconoclasm.

Niki is undeniably stylish and well shot but it lacks precision. Charlotte Le Bon’s excellent performance as the artist Niki de Saint-Phalle isn’t enough to make Niki a fully embodied film.

Céline Sallette makes a conventional, uninspired biopic. [Full review in Spanish]

An ordinary story about an extraordinary woman and that is meant as a compliment.

This story of resilience and overcoming is narrated in a way that is too obvious, pedestrian, underlined, calculated, and with many biopic clichés. [Full review in Spanish]

It’s easy to side with Le Bon’s Niki and her strong-willed nature when placed in a patriarchal environment that dismisses women as hysterical, but it’s not enough to fully get a grasp on why the artist should be truly memorable for the viewer.

A raw, emotional performance from Charlotte Le Bon dominates a film that gradually reveals the way in which art becomes a way of conquering trauma and finding a voice for this ground-breaking mid-century sculptor.