Queer (film)

Queer is a 2024 historical romance drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino from a screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes, based on the 1985 novel by William S. Burroughs. Set in 1940s Mexico City, the film follows an outcast American expat (Daniel Craig) who becomes infatuated with a younger man (Drew Starkey).

Queer premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2024, where it played in-competition for the Golden Lion.^[2][3] It is scheduled to be released in the United States in a limited release on November 27, 2024, by A24.

Set in 1940s Mexico City, it follows Lee who, after fleeing from a drug bust in New Orleans, wanders around the city's clubs and becomes infatuated with drug user Allerton, a discharged American Navy serviceman.^[4]

Additionally, Omar Apollo, Michaël Borremans, Andra Ursuța, David Lowery, Lisandro Alonso, Ford Leland, Sean Cubito, Diego Benzoni, Radu Murarasu and Francesco Lupo Sturani appear in undisclosed roles.

Guadagnino wanted to make an adaptation of William S. Burroughs' 1985 novel Queer since he read the book when he was 17. In April 2022 he mentioned the book to screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes while they were on set for their film Challengers (2024) in Boston.^[5] Guadagnino bought Kuritzkes a copy, which he read and loved. Producer Lorenzo Mieli found the rights to the book, which they secured after a call with James Grauerholz, the literary executor of Burroughs' estate. Kuritzkes began writing the script while they were still working on Challengers.^[5] The book was published unfinished, so Kuritzkes and Guadagnino consulted Burroughs' scholar Oliver Harris, on how to give the text a fitting ending, while maintaining the author's vision.^[6] Guadagnino described Queer as his most personal film and a tribute to the films of Powell and Pressburger, concretely The Red Shoes (1948), "I think they would appreciate the sex scenes in Queer, which are numerous and quite scandalous".^[7]

It was announced in December 2022 that Daniel Craig was in talks to star in the film.^[8] Craig was cast after Guadagnino's agent Bryan Lourd had sent the script to the actor, "Daniel and I were on the phone a week later. Then, a week passed, and he was in the movie". Guadagnino recalled.^[6] In April 2023, Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman, and Henry Zaga were revealed to be in the cast.^[4] Starkey was cast after an audition tape he had made for another project landed in front of Guadagnino. Guadagnino consulted with Craig on casting Starkey, and Craig, after watching the tape, told Guadagnino: "That's the guy".^[9] They auditioned 300 people for the role.^[6] In June 2024 it was reported directors Ariel Schulman, Lisandro Alonso and David Lowery would be appearing on the film.^[7]

Principal photography began in Rome, Italy on April 29, 2023.^[10][4] The project was filmed at Cinecittà Studios. Additional scenes were shot in Quito, Ecuador, standing for Mexico City. Production wrapped on June 29, 2023.^[11][12] Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe, served as costume designer, marking his second collaboration with Guadagnino following Challengers.^[4][13]

The original cut submitted to and accepted by the Venice Film Festival was 185 to 200 minutes long before being cut down to its final length of 135 minutes.^[14][15]

In February 2024, Variety reported that the film was expected to hit the festival circuit in late 2024.^[16][17] This was confirmed in July 2024, when it was announced that Queer would have its world premiere in-competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.^[18] In August 2024, the film was the first announced in the Spotlight Gala of the 62nd New York Film Festival.^[19] That same month, A24 acquired the film's distribution rights for the United States.^[20] It is scheduled for a limited release in the United States on November 27, 2024.^[21]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 54 critics gave the film a positive review and the average rating was 7.1 out of 10.^[22] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on 24 critics' reviews, indicating a "generally favorable" response.^[23]

Craig was widely praised for his performance,^{[24][25][26][27]} with The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw describing it as a "really funny, open, generous performance – perhaps the only disadvantage is that he upstages Starkey".^[28]

The Times found the film to be visually appealing but lacking in substance.^[29]

• Queer at IMDb