It’s best to depict egomaniacs, even talented ones like Salvador Dalí (Ben Kingsley), through the eyes of someone in their orbit but not their headspace—someone like art-school dropout James (Christopher Briney), who works for a New York gallery in the mid-1970s. He is asked to deliver money to Dalí and his wife, Gala (Barbara Sukowa), and is soon swept into their world of art and parties filled with beautiful people and stimulating substances. Director Mary Harron is perfect for this subject matter, with an unerring eye for period detail and novel ways of looking at real celebrities from various cultural zeitgeists.