QUEER

Luca Guadagnino’s stab at the notoriously unfilmable William S. Burroughs is more quaint than it is queer, and more confusing than compelling, as the movie doubles down on artifice over emotion.

You’d think it would be a good thing for a director to be a chameleon, changing colour with every new film he makes. In the case of Luca Guadagnino you’d wish he found some more consistency though, as after the sexy dynamism of last year’s Challengers the quality rollercoaster that is his career lunges downward again with Queer.

The plot centres on an outcast American writer, hiding away in fifties Mexico and engaging regularly in sexual encounters with local boys. When he meets a young American GI, he is immediately smitten, but winning over the object of his affection – who doesn’t fully identify as queer – proves to be quite the challenge.

As in the Burroughs novel it is based on, Queer isn’t all that concerned with plot though. This is a film that mostly elaborates on character flaws and indulges in an atmosphere of constant longing for escape in an environment that feels like a personal prison. That could have been the recipe for a powerful film, but while the picture somehow always keeps your attention, Guadagnino’s approach prevents energetic engagement.

Firstly he keeps a curious distance to the characters, never gets under their skin, and shoots even the most sexually charged scenes with a total lack of passion and energy. On top of that the use of clearly artificial sets and painted backdrops adds an artifice ill-suited to the narrative, while the anachronistic use of songs by Nirvana, Prince and others lacks purpose.

Within these restraints, the performances by Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey make sense yet they border on the tired trope, with only Lesley Manville truly grabbing your attention in a final act appearance. Still, they cannot prevent that Queer is an overall disappointment.

release: 2024

director: Luca Guadagnino

starring: Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Jason Schwartzman, Lesley Manville