At the heart of this visceral and unexpectedly tender film is a love story like no other—between notorious outsider painter Joe Coleman and his wife and muse of 25 years, Whitney Ward. Known for his intricate portraits of serial killers and outcasts, Coleman turns his obsessive gaze on Whitney in his most personal and ambitious work yet: a towering portrait that lays bare her entire life. As the masterpiece comes to light, so does the complexity of their relationship, where love, art, and control blur in a high-stakes act of intimacy.
Stylistically mirroring Coleman’s own layered, non-linear work, the film is a rich, visceral experience that defies documentary biographical conventions. Directed by multiple Emmy Award winner Scott Gracheff, and featuring Iggy Pop, Dave Navarro, and Asia Argento, How Dark My Love blends original and archival material to create a hypnotic journey, which has you teetering between wincing at the grotesque and adoring the beauty from the love story that unfolds.