The phrase "tortured genius" refers to someone who is exceptionally talented or intelligent but also suffers from psychological or emotional struggles. Full definition
Less dramatised than Enigma and less historically upsetting than U-571, Tyldum's take on the deconstruction of Germany's Enigma code is a portrait of tortured genius set against the stage of a world at war. (empireonline.com)
«He may be a designer, but he's the designer as tortured genius, a man whose idiosyncrasies and unreasonable behavior are enabled ad tolerated in the service of his art. (southflorida.com)
This may seem surprising to those who associate suicide with tortured geniuses like Ernest Hemingway and Vincent Van Gogh. (health.com)