Queer (2024)

"I'm not queer. I'm disembodied."

William S. Burroughs wrote on the margins of gay liberation movements, often not identifying with it much at all, a setting his queerness outside of what even at the time was an unacceptable community. According to the author, Queer was written when he was off heroine, and therefore required to confront his same gender attractions and self-loathing.  Guadagnino, a queer artist of a completely different generation who embraces his sexuality and explores the complexities of queer life in his work, takes the first artist's work and transforms it, still capturing the tragedy of the central character's isolation and desperation, while finding release and power in his physical and emotional connection to the men he fucks, even when that's complicated. 

Craig is unflinchingly raw in what may turn out to be the boldest and best performance of his career. He is naked, literally and figuratively, and while the sex is explicit, it is also filmed with such a nuanced and rich narrative tone that it expresses so much about the characters and their relationships with each other, they are stunning in their power. Guadagnino is not afraid of sex on screen as tool for reaching the interiors of his characters and Queer is a masterclass in that. 

Guadagnino also isn't afraid to tell his story through dream logic. So much of Queer is filmed like remembrance or imagination, often explicitly moving into dream space. Filmed almost entirely on sets, Queer has a level of uncanniness that suggests we are in Lee's memories, experiencing these events as he recalls to narrate them to us, more than how they happened. Whether we are watching water colour memories, drug induced hallucinations, or dreams of another time, Queer offers us a truth in something less literal. 

Guadagnino doesn't always pace this story very well. The film can be plodding at times with bursts of humour (especially when Schwartzman shows up in what is likely my favourite role of his), passion, or terror. The final act draws on too long, but then collapses into one of the film's most powerful and revelatory moments, a scene of ultimate connection that manages to be powerfully terrifying and uncomfortably satisfying at the same time demonstrating just how powerful a film make he has become. 

Queer eschews the need to be comfortable for anyone, certainly not the mainstream straight audiences, but it doesn't pull its punches for gay audiences seeking representation on the screen either. This is part Lynchian nightmare, Mapplethorpe eroticism, and silver screen era decadence. No matter what you won't be able to stop thinking about it. 

Queer

Starring: Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Jason Schwartzman, Henrique Zaga, Lesley Manville, Andra Ursula, Omar Apollo

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Writer: Justin Kuritzkes