Women He's Undressed

Combining so many disparate strands — historical, contextual, personal and even gossipy — with the performative could have felt disjointed. But in Armstrong’s capable hands, it all comes together fairly seamlessly, providing a compelling portrait of Kelly’s noteworthy career.

The life of Orry-Kelly is a story that needed to be told, and Armstrong stocks up a lovingly rendered homage-cum-investigation with oodles of verve and panache.

The clips Armstrong and her team have rounded up make us appreciate how, in a whole range of situations, costumes express character.

The film’s charms exist in the performative elements contextualized amongst the film’s interviewees.

A rollicking if somewhat ham-handed documentary about the life of costume designer Orry-Kelly.

The film overstays its welcome by punctuating his story with ill-advised dramatic fantasy sequences that are meant to illustrate the anguish of a gay man in mid-century America, but come across as heavy-handed and mean-spirited.