Who’s in the cast of Queer?
Former 007 Daniel Craig, alongside Drew Starkey, Jason Schwartzman, Lesley Manville, and Henrique Zaga.
What’s the plot of Queer?
It’s set to follow an American expat who is chasing a younger man in 1940s Mexico City.
When will Queer be released?
There’s not yet a confirmed release date for Queer, though the film will be premiering at the Venice Film Festival this September.
The details:
It could get Daniel Craig closer to an Oscar than ever before
Despite his breakout performances in everything from Layer Cake and Logan Lucky to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (not to mention Casino Royale, Skyfall, and Spectre), the beloved British actor has never received an Academy Award nomination in his more than three decades in the business. But, according to the industry luminaries who have already seen his performance in Queer, that could be about to change. When speaking to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the Venice Film Festival, the showcase’s boss, Alberto Barbera, said that there were “a couple of performances I think people will find absolutely outstanding” on the line-up, which included Joaquin Phoenix’s turn in Joker: Folie à Deux and Craig’s in Queer. “I think they are the performances of their lifetimes,” he added. “I would be surprised if we don’t see them at the Academy Awards next year.” Here’s hoping.
Photo: Yannis Drakoulidis
Drew Starkey leads a stellar supporting cast
The internet boyfriend and star of Outer Banks, The Hate U Give, and Love, Simon, will be joining Craig, along with Lesley Manville; Jason Schwartzman; The New Mutants’s Henrique Zaga; artists Michaël Borremans and Andra Ursuța; director David Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Green Knight); and pop star Omar Apollo, in his acting debut. A fittingly eclectic, creative ensemble for a film which seems destined to push boundaries.
The team behind the camera is equally impressive
In the director’s chair for Queer is none other than Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love, A Bigger Splash, Call Me by Your Name, Bones and All, We Are Who We Are), fresh off the serve that was Challengers. (That supremely sexy drama had been due to open last year’s Venice Film Festival before being pulled from the line-up as a result of the Hollywood strikes.) Dennis Lim, the artistic director of New York Film Festival, where Queer is set to have its US premiere, has described the film as the auteur’s “most fearless, inventive, and surprising.” Meanwhile, supporting Guadagnino will be a number of his previous collaborators from Challengers: Justin Kuritzkes has penned the script; Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross will provide the soundtrack; and the costumes come courtesy of Jonathan Anderson.
It’s based on a seminal William S. Burroughs novella
An adaptation of the legendary writer’s semi-autobiographical pageturner of the same name from 1985, the release will, per its synopsis, see Craig embody “an American expat and war veteran [named William Lee] who begins a romance with a younger man named Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). [It will follow him] now in his late forties and in 1940s Mexico City, reminiscing about his past life among American expatriate college students and barkeeps eking out their own living on part-time jobs and GI benefits following World War II. Lee ends up chasing Allerton, a discharged navy serviceman. Allerton is a drug user, who, though indifferent to Lee’s advances, eventually relents.”
It should have some explosive sex scenes
According to Venice’s Alberto Barbera, Craig has “a couple of sex scenes that are quite full-on” in Queer. In an interview with Cinecittà, Guadagnino added: “Queer will be my most personal film. It’s a tribute to Powell and Pressburger. I’ve seen The Red Shoes at least 50 times and I think they would appreciate the sex scenes in Queer, which are numerous and quite scandalous.” We’re certainly intrigued.
It’ll hopefully hit theaters this winter
Queer doesn’t yet have a release date, but in order to make the cut-off for the 2025 Oscars, it would have to land in US cinemas before the end of the year. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.