Queer (2024)
Queer
I promise, most of what you think this might be about, it’s not. Going into it, I was mostly expecting some kind of forbidden love story between two men in the 40’s, which is partially what I got. It’s definitely not forbidden love, but it still has the old timey “frowned upon love” kind of feel to this. And then it picks up and jumps into adventure mode, physically, emotionally, and mentally. I absolutely loved the direction it took, moving the boys down to South America for an…..interesting time. I don’t want to give too much away. At least for me, the third act is a total spiral off of the first two acts, but in an amazing way. It gets very Lynchian very quickly, up until the final seconds of the film. I would love to ask Luca Guadagnino about his inspirations for this film. But anyways, story-wise, it has a great deal of love, chemistry, and exploration of the human mind. Very wonderfully done. The performances were all outstanding, even from the most minor characters. Daniel Craig delivers one of his best performances ever, and it’s very sad that he didn’t get an Oscar nomination. He’s eccentric and (mostly) personable, yet vulnerable and sad. Drew Starkey communicates a lot through his eyes and mannerisms, and his performance isn’t talked about enough. Jason Schwartzman also shows up a couple times and nails it. The score from Reznor and Ross is another knockout, and the fact that they had this score as well as ‘Challengers’ (also directed by Guadagnino) this year shows their passion, talent, and efforts. Lastly, the cinematography, production, and costume design were just about flawless. Every single scene feels so authentic, and never once did I doubt that this wasn’t in the 40’s. The sense of realism is one of the best I’ve seen and felt from any film this decade, maybe even this century. Overall, this is an amazing film that I’m certainly glad I finally got a chance to watch. It does take a few minutes to settle into, but once you do, it’s full blast until the end. I’d recommend it to all drama/romance fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!