Sid and Nancy (1986)

(On TV, June 2020) One of the greatest “wait, that was Gary Oldman?” hits in the actor’s filmography, Sid and Nancy is also a raw, uncut dive into 1970s punk culture through the lens of the deeply problematic relationship between The Sex Pistol’s Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, which would end with their deaths. Under writer-director Alex Cox, it turns into a sad but not depressing tale of love, music and drugs—a cautionary tale, but one that can’t help but stare longingly at romantic self-destruction. Often energetic, somewhat well served by a “true story” that spanned mere months rather than years or decades, Sid and Nancy is the kind of film that feels like a cult favourite. It’s all grimy and falsely glamorous even in its slightly contemptuous observation of two severely damaged people getting together against squalid backdrops. (The film’s most consciously romantic moment makes beauty out of falling garbage!) Oldman is terrific as Vicious, but Chloe Webb also makes it work as Spungen. The ending is inevitably divisive—it’s designed for those who already know the entire story, but also leaves a lot of material out—be ready to have the relevant Wikipedia articles ready to read by the time you finish watching Sid and Nancy.