Many of the best music biopics eschew the stale storytelling building-blocks that can make the form such a drag—the subtle-as-a-grenade depictions of moments of inspiration, the nonbeliever telling the artist not to do things that way, the inevitable “I have to do it this way, it’s my art” response, and the hugs and high-fives when it all works out in the end.

Some of the films on this list buck convention simply by focusing on figures who didn’t get a happy ending—like Ian Curtis, Kurt Cobain, or Sid Vicious—or by adding some fictional flourish to the truth of the tale they’re telling. As far as we’re concerned, that’s absolutely fine. Truth is a slippery thing, and people do die in misery—whatever it takes to get us away from the play-it-safe parade is A-OK with us. These are the best music biopics that didn’t do things by the book.

24 Hour Party People (2002)