Film Review: Party Monster (2003)

Rating: IMDB: 6.2/10, Rotten Tomatoes: 29%

Party Monster is a vivid, chilling portrayal of the rise and fall of Michael Alig, a real-life figure infamous in New York’s club scene during the late ’80s and early ’90s. On the surface, it’s a neon-soaked, chaotic celebration of hedonism, but underneath, it is a tragedy about narcissism, alienation, and the hollowness at the heart of self-created fame.

The film, starring Macaulay Culkin as Alig and Seth Green as James St. James, blends grotesque humor with a descent into horror, mirroring the vibrant yet destructive world the characters inhabit.

Themes

1. Identity and Performance

At its core, Party Monster examines how identity can be constructed, commodified, and ultimately destroyed. Michael Alig reinvents himself not just socially but aesthetically, becoming a living performance piece. In the world of the “Club Kids,” personality is spectacle. Reality becomes secondary to persona, with disastrous consequences when the boundaries between performance and real life completely dissolve.

2. Addiction and Escapism

The characters’ drug use is more than just partying — it’s symptomatic of deeper emptiness. The rampant consumption (drugs, fame, attention) reflects an existential hunger, a…