A decadent confection with bitter aromatic notes, Velvet Goldmine is Todd Haynes (May December) at his most gloriously flamboyant. Investigative journalist Arthur (Christian Bale) attempts to track down the elusive androgynous glam rock icon (and thinly-veiled David Bowie allegory) Brian Slade, who disappeared ten years prior in a puff of glitter at the height of his fame. Through interviews with the people who loved and were discarded by the rockstar he idolised as a closeted youngster in repressive 1970s Britain, Arthur is forced to come to terms with the uncomfortable friction between dreams and reality, the man and the myth. Extraordinary visual flights of fancy, moments of longing and jealousy, and truly embodied performances— that's a Todd Haynes movie for you.

Bowie denied the rights to use his music in the film after discovering it would delve into some of the more unsavoury aspects of his rise to fame and it’s easy to see why: Brian Slade (and alter ego, Maxwell Demon) is a fascinating but deeply flawed creature, one who absorbs the talents and personas of everyone around him to become whatever he needs to be. Haynes instead uses 90s luminaries like Placebo, Thom Yorke, Teenage Fanclub and Pulp to reinterpret glam classics from the era, layering over excerpts from behind-the-scenes rumours of rockstar bad behaviour with dialogue taken from Oscar Wilde to create a swooning parable of fame, romance and betrayal.