Critics reviews

Whether or not Nico ever actually performed live like this, the film—and Dyrholm’s terrific, surprisingly warm performance—persuade you that she might have released her wilder side in this way. What’s enjoyable, and very human, about Nicchiarelli’s film is that it also reveals the singer’s dry humor, and the weary but wry vulnerability behind the formidable noli me tangere force field that was her public persona.

“I’ve been on the top, I’ve been on the bottom,” she says at one point. “Both places are empty.” This hollowness of spirit, the feeling that a boat has somehow been missed, saturates the film; and Ms. Nicchiarelli, using brief archival flickers of Warhol’s Factory parties, deftly connects the carefree chaos of Päffgen’s past to the dark desperation of her present.

The unflashy, austere visual style of writer-director Susanna Nicchiarelli's Nico, 1988 is but a veneer over the film's deceptively radical treatment of the musical biopic.

Danish actress Trine Dyrholm convincingly imitates both Nico's speaking and singing voice, even though Dyrholm's appearance requires some suspension of disbelief. Her facial features and Nico's are simply different, although Dyrholm is excellent in the role. She captures Nico's essential nonchalance while forming a captivating portrait of early aging and addiction.