The glitzy zone of fast fashion meets the hermetic, brooding art world in the film Moss & Freud, written and directed by James Lucas. It’s an irresistible prospect for fashionistas and art lovers alike: Kate Moss and Lucien Freud, an insight into an unlikely pairing. Now screening at the Russell Hobbs British Film Festival, Moss & Freud merges the worlds of art and fashion in a clash of glamour and obsession.
In 2002, iconic supermodel Kate Moss and prominent portrait artist Lucien Freud spent nine months together as he painted her Naked Portrait. Unlike his usual works of unknown sitters, Freud was drawn to paint Moss at the height of her fame.
The film chronicles this time, boldly attempting to bridge two vastly different worlds that, in reality, feed into each other more than we often care to admit. On paper, it has all the allure you’d expect: the high-gloss, ephemeral realm of a supermodel meeting the quiet, obsessive, earthy world of a contemporary painter.
Kate Moss, who rose to fame in the early ’90s, became iconic for her “heroin chic” grunge aesthetic. Lucien Freud, grandson of Sigmund Freud, was a prominent British portrait artist known for his obsessive work ethic. The film promises an intriguing insight behind the tabloids and flashlights, but doesn’t quite hit the emotional notes.
It plunges us into Kate’s frenetic, glamorous world with sharp, head-spinning cuts that resemble a hectic photoshoot. We hurtle from the fast lane of fashion as Kate zooms along in her Bentley to the quiet, reflective zone of the art world, with iconic London landmarks like Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery on display.
Director of Photography Maria Ines Manchego cleverly uses a long tracking shot, following Kate like Alice in Wonderland, as she walks wide-eyed through the National Gallery before it opens to the public.
Like quick snaps for a fashion magazine, there are close-ups of classical paintings: women in various poses of vulnerability, pale skin, mouths agape, helpless and subdued. It quietly asks: What does it mean to be gazed at? To be a muse? Is there more to a muse than inspiration?
The London landmarks and interior art shots pull us into the promise of a story that might truly bridge the art and fashion worlds. Yet that promise never quite finds its footing.
Ellie Bamber is vibrant and charismatic, capturing Moss’s effervescence, cheeky charm, and sensuality. There are fleeting moments where she scratches beneath the surface, but she isn’t really given the space to go deeper.
For fans of Derek Jacobi, the film is worth seeing. Jacobi, who played another iconic painter, Francis Bacon, in 1998’s Love Is the Devil, immerses himself in the physicality and psyche of Freud. His embodiment of Lucien Freud is striking, with a soft, German accent, scowling face, stubborn discipline and a fading mind. He completely immerses in the role, unafraid to put off the audience.
Jasmine Blackborow is quietly intriguing as Bella Freud, Lucien’s daughter, longing for a deeper connection with her father. She conveys pained insecurity and vulnerability, but the familial fracture is left underexplored and doesn’t fully land emotionally.
Cinematography is one of the film’s strongest assets. Manchego uses shifts in light and framing to contrast the flashy world of fashion with the slower, interior world of an artist. Editor Nick Carew shapes Moss & Freud with pace and rhythm that suit the dizzy, glamorous life Moss inhabits. Carew nails the spin and rush, keeping the pace intoxicating.
The film hints at intimacy in the sittings as Freud slowly paints Kate’s naked figure. Yet the deeper connection the two forged in real life never fully translates through the script or performances. Given more scope, Bamber and Jacobi could have explored a more layered, nuanced bond.
Moments suggest the story wants to go deeper, but the film opts for fast-paced shifts, with a stronger focus on Kate’s wild, neon-lit nightlife. The script leans more toward a glossy-magazine overview of the fashion world. There’s plenty of cocaine, parties, fleeting relationships, but only tentative brushstrokes that dip into the psyche of a passion-fuelled artist.
Moss & Freud is a visually thrilling canvas that attempts to explore the struggle behind the facade of art and fame. Yet the heart of the story doesn’t quite pierce the gleaming, glossy surface and reach in a way that impacts. For lovers of London, fashion and art, it’s a visual feast, even better consumed with a glass of Bollinger, of course.
Moss & Freud is on now in cinemas nationally as part of the Russell Hobbs 2025 British Film Festival.
Tickets: https://britishfilmfestival.com.au/films/bff25-moss-and-freud
Website: https://britishfilmfestival.com.au/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/britishfilmfest/
Watch an interview with Writer / Director James Lucas:
Film details:
Title: Moss & Freud
Director: James Lucas
Cast: Anna Chancellor, Daniel Mays, Derek Jacobi, Ellie Bamber
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Duration: 100 mins
Rating: MA15+
