- Daniel Craig, Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman
- December 13th 2024
- 137
- Luca Guadagnino
Daniel Craig plays a version of author William S. Burroughs in Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of his novel Queer.
Since retiring as James Bond, Daniel Craig has taken on increasingly varied roles, from Southern detective Benoit Blanc in Knives Out to William Lee in his new film Queer.
Based on William S. Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, Queer follows the American expat as he wanders from bar to bar in 1940s Mexico City, drinking, taking drugs and hooking up with young men.
One day, he meets a discharged American Navy serviceman named Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey) and becomes infatuated with him. But are his feelings reciprocated?
The film, which reunites Guadagnino with his Challengers writer Justin Kuritzkes, is split into three chapters plus an epilogue.
The first and second are the strongest because they are a traditional drama about Lee desperately trying to find love, connection and contact. Allerton keeps his feelings under wraps and Lee struggles to know where he stands, leading him to suggest a trip to South America.
But the story falls down when it diverges from the book in the third chapter, when Lee and Allerton go to the South American jungle to try the hallucinogenic drug ayahuasca.
Given the context, you may be expecting to see some trippy visuals but you will not be prepared for how surreal this movie becomes.
Guadagnino makes the baffling choice to keep this hallucinatory vibe going well after the drugs have worn off and the story moves into the epilogue.
This last section is where the film becomes very experimental and weird and the pace slows down almost to a halt, meaning that it is a struggle to get through unless you’re on its wavelength.
Switching from a conventional dramatic story to a surrealist one is a bold move and this risk doesn’t pay off; in fact, this unexpected tonal change is more likely to put viewers off.
Craig deserves to be in the awards season conversation for his performance as the lonely, vulnerable and longing Lee.
Starkey looks the part physically but isn’t given enough to do to really prove himself because Allerton is such a mystery.
Out of their supporting cast, Jason Schwartzman needs a shout-out for playing Joe, Lee’s hilarious gay pal, and as well as Lesley Manville, who is unrecognisable as the greasy-haired ayahuasca expert Dr. Cotter.
Queer is a promising film in the first half but the latter chapters let it down because of their hallucinatory nature and meandering pace.
In cinemas from Friday 13th December.
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