Obviously a lot better than most music biopics because of the arthouse approach. The film leaves much more room to interpret for the viewer (having some prior knowledge of artists like The Velvet Underground, David Bowie and the punk scene certainly helps) and its main characters can be challenging to relate to. It thankfully doesn't try to glamorize the protagonist, it would've been the wrong choice for someone like Ian Curtis. I've always been drawn to Joy Division's music because of his poetry, and the character portrait we get here re-contextualizes a lot of their music for me. The film's ability to place the viewer in his head is easily the best thing about it. Corbijn's background in photography helps with capturing an isolating, grey atmosphere, he's very aware of how to place elements within the frame. Sam Riley's performance contains all the right elements (the youthful innocent look; the alienlike dancing; the voice; the depressing attitude without going overboard) and because of all those aspects the film packs a serious punch during the third act, even if you know what's coming. It's not perfect, you'll still find a couple of those typical music biopic tropes here (cheating plotline; 'event X in the singer's life leads to song Y' is used multiple times) and occasionally the introduction of new plot elements can feel somewhat haphazard, but I do recommend it for sure. Would it stand out as much if you'd remove the context of the music? I'm honestly not sure. I think there are more compelling cinematic portraits of men dealing with similar issues as Ian Curtis, so maybe don't watch it if you don't care about Joy Division as a band.

7/10