Typist Artist Pirate King

Typist Artist Pirate King is a 2022 British film written and directed by Carol Morley, about the life and art of artist, Audrey Amiss. It stars Monica Dolan as Amiss, as well as Kelly Macdonald, and Gina McKee.in a film which cleverly picks apart the clichés of the timeworn artist biopic

The film is a fictionalised portrait of the late “avant-garde and misunderstood” artist Audrey Amiss. Amiss was an artist who studied at the Royal Academy of Arts, but was unable to complete her training after being hospitalised due to mental illness. She died in 2013, leaving behind a vast collection of artworks and writings which were discovered after her death, and subsequently donated posthumously to the Wellcome Collection.

The movie centres on a fictionalised road trip undertakenby Amiss, played by Monica Dolan, and her psychiatric nurse, played by Kelly Macdonald, in which they travel north and reconnect with key individuals and moments from Amiss’s past.

Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian described the film as “warm and sympathetic” and said that the “casting works with the writing and the black comic and tragicomic nature of their ordeal is often hilarious.” Later in the year, Bradshaw named Carol Morley’s directing and mentioned the performance of Dolan as among the best on film in 2023.:

And in case you are wondering… the title come’s from Audrey’s statement of occupation in her passport!

Watch Mark Kermode’s take on the movie and make a space in your diary to enjoy a really special film with us