DramaRomance

Queer

1950. William Lee, an American expat in Mexico City, spends his days almost entirely alone, except for a few contacts with other members of the small American community. His encounter with Eugene Allerton, an expat former soldier, new to the city, shows him, for the first time, that it might be finally possible to establish an intimate connection with somebody.

Release Date : 2024-11-27

Language :EnglishSpanish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : FremantleThe Apartment PicturesFrenesy Film

Production Country : ItalyUnited States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : William Lee

Original Name : Daniel Craig

Gender : Male

Character Name : Eugene Allerton

Original Name : Drew Starkey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Joe Guidry

Original Name : Jason Schwartzman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Doctor Cotter

Original Name : Lesley Manville

Gender : Female

Character Name : Winston Moor

Original Name : Henry Zaga

Gender : Male

Character Name : John Dumé

Original Name : Drew Droege

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mary

Original Name : Andra Ursuta

Gender : Female

Character Name : Mr. Cotter

Original Name : Lisandro Alonso

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tom Weston

Original Name : Ariel Schulman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jim Cochran

Original Name : David Lowery

Gender : Male

Character Name : Karl Steinberg

Original Name : Daan de Wit

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tom Williams

Original Name : Colin Bates

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ship Ahoy Bartender

Original Name : Simon Rizzoni

Gender : Male

Character Name : Chimu Bar Artists

Original Name : Octavio Mendoza

Gender : Male

Character Name : Chimu Bar Guy

Original Name : Omar Apollo

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hotel Owner

Original Name : Silverio Castro

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ship Ahoy Bartender

Original Name : Amir Antonio Samande Chavez

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ship Ahoy Waitress

Original Name : Andrea Montserrat Rios Hernandez

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ship Ahoy Chess Player

Original Name : Claudio Cardenas

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cab Driver

Original Name : Gilberto Barraza

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lola's Waiter

Original Name : Jean Carlos Gonzalez Flores

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ship Ahoy Young Man

Original Name : Michael Kent

Gender : Male

Character Name : Joe Guidry's Acquaintance

Original Name : Lorenzo Pozzan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Joan

Original Name : Ronia Ava

Gender : Female

Character Name : Curio Shop Clerk

Original Name : Juan Domingo Sandoval Puga

Gender : Male

Character Name : Doctor

Original Name : Michaël Borremans

Gender : Male

Character Name : Doctor Hernandez

Original Name : Andrés Duprat

Gender : Male

Character Name : Female Villager

Original Name : Mery Patricia Atencio Huaranga

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lee’s Mother (uncredited)

Original Name : Perla Ambrosini

Gender : Female

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-12-17

Were it not for the fact that it features an ex "007", I reckon this would be an almost instantly forgettable gay-themed drama that could easily be found on Dekkoo in a year to two. Anyway, Daniel Craig is the independently wealthy "Lee" and living in a Mexico City where in between tequila and heroine sessions, he tries to pick up young men. He's not a bad looker and so usually gets some entertainment (paid for, or otherwise) but then he spots an enigmatic young man who comes to their local bar to play chess with a red-headed woman. Intrigued, his usually effective introductions seem to fall on beautiful but disinterested eyes and ears, but he persists and soon manages to befriend student "Eugene" (Drew Starkey). Even though they drink and chat together, he still isn't sure if his new challenge is even eligible for some furious jogging. Indeed, the young man is so completely non-committal and tractable that it's impossible for him to be sure about almost anything about him. Napoleon brandy might help provide an answer, and it does - of sorts, but an extremely satisfactory one for the older man who is clearly becoming obsessed with a man who at best displays indifference to him. "Lee" isn't used to this sensation, but he simply has to have something more meaningful with this man. He cannot just be an another notch on the bedpost, and so he turns his mind to a trip round South America and to take a travelling companion. Why there? Well he's read of a secret plant that he believes both the KGB and CIA are using for it's famed telepathic powers. Perhaps if he finds it, he can reach into the very mind of his gorgeous antagonist? What the men do manage to find in the midst of the Ecuadorian jungle is Lesley Manville and at this point the wheels really came off for me. At the very end, the closing slide says "William S. Burroughs' Queer" as if Luca Guadagnino was saying to us - 'don't blame me". Sure there are some sex scenes, but they are all blink and you'll miss them (and in the trails anyway), so what are we actually left with? A story of an ageing drunk and a narcissistic young man playing a rather depressing form of "cat and mouse" meets "house"? To be fair, Craig delivers strongly indeed, but to what end? His character has nowhere to go, and his range of dependencies are neither attractive nor especially plausible as the second half of the story enters the surreal in quite a desperate way. Starkey has very few meaningful lines and so relies on his perfectly man-scaped appearance to present a persona that is easy on the eye but not remotely troubling for the brain, and that's largely in keeping with the whole story that just lacks substance. It's bizarrely unfulfilling on just about every front and really quite characteristically impotent. There's simply nothing natural about it and as tale of flawed humanity goes, well so what - I didn't care. It looks good, sounds good and has an altogether polished finish to it, but like a meringue there's little to delve into.