“I do not paint what I see, but what is shown to me.”
VIBE CHECK:
Biographical / Spiritual / Ethereal / Artistic / Feminist
THE PLOT:
Directed by Lasse Hallström, the film follows the life of Hilma af Klint (played by Tora Hallström in her youth and Lena Olin in her later years). From her early days at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts to her deep dive into spiritualism, the film explores how Hilma and her circle of female friends—"The Five"—conducted séances to receive messages from higher spirits. These visions led her to create "The Paintings for the Temple," massive, colorful abstract works that predated Kandinsky and Mondrian but remained hidden from the public for decades.
THE QUEER & RADICAL ANGLE:
The Power of "The Five": The film is radical in its focus on the collective power of women. It highlights the profound, often romantic, and spiritual bonds between Hilma and her collaborator Thomasine Andersson, showing a life built outside the patriarchal norms of the early 20th century.
Queer Spirituality: It explores the intersection of queer identity and mysticism, suggesting that Hilma’s ability to transcend gender roles allowed her to access a higher plane of artistic truth.
Rewriting History: By centering Hilma as the actual mother of abstraction, the film performs a radical act of art-historical justice, stripping the crown from the men who were credited with her innovations.
WHY IT KILLS:
It is "visually hypnotic," with the camera lingering on the vibrant swirls of Hilma’s canvases as if they were living organisms. The unique casting choice—having the director’s real-life daughter and wife play the same character at different ages—adds a "hauntingly seamless" layer of continuity to Hilma’s long, lonely, yet brilliant journey. It’s a film that asks us to look beyond the physical world and trust in the magic of the unknown.
LEGACY SCORE: 9.3 / 10 🌀🎨
