Written and Directed by Susanna Nicchiarelli
Starring Trine Dyrholm, John Gordon Sinclair, and Anamaria Marinca
Running time: 1 hour and 33 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for drug use, language, and some sexuality

By Francis Friel, the Projectionist

Susanna Nicchiarelli has a lot on her mind in Nico, 1988. It’s almost as if the pure, abstract concepts of loneliness, bitterness, and addiction are manifesting on screen even before we get into the day-to-day reality of what it was like to be Christa Päffgen (known to those who don’t know her as Nico, a name she tolerates more than approves of) in the last few years of her life. But once she does show us more than a passing glimpse of the highs and lows of that life, those three traits are joined by another: inspiration.