The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

A small, impressionistic, oddly heartfelt movie about beauty, stardom, adoration, exploitation, and loss.

his fascinating but dismally depressing Swedish documentary is well worth seeing, but never fully escapes the feeling that it's all been seen before.

Andrésen has spent a long time without the language to express what he went through. The Most Beautiful Boy in the World explores and honors that trauma in equal measure, and documents a troubling moment in the history of sexuality in popular culture.

The result is a cinematic curio in search of a more conclusive theme and emotional payoff.

The Most Beautiful Boy in the World provides a haunting portrait of the corrosive effects of fame, especially of the sexualized variety, at an early age. But there are times when the film feels exploitative of its subject...

Andresen's determination to rise above misfortune, and his hopes for himself, make this movie less than a total tragedy. But it's an often shudder-inducing cautionary tale.

This doesn’t make the leap from “DVD supplement” to its own film-object, but anyone curious for Visconti-related reasons will probably get something of value out of this.

While it's an undeniably raw look at the perils of fame, the film can't help but lose focus of its factually-based themes and deeper examinations as it goes on.

Largely, this is an innocent enough film that can be skipped by all except those who are especially interested in the life and career of Bjrn Andrsen.

The Most Beautiful Boy in the World is a tender look at how beauty is fleeting and life is preciousno matter how much has been taken.