Queer

Daniel Craig and director Luca Guadagnino unite in the film that has been described as a career-best for both.

Mexico, 1950.

Fuelled by tequila and nicotine, American expat William Lee whiles his days away within the orbit of the queer expat cliques of Mexico City. Sweltering nights are spent flitting in, out and around the queer nightspots frequented by other American gentlemen. Lee is rarely alone but perennially lonely, until his path intersects with Eugene, an aloof and much younger ex-military man. Eugene’s sexuality is ambiguous, and Lee wants to know more.

Curator’s Note

The 1985 novel by William S. Burroughs, on which the film is based, is reportedly semi-autobiographical, capturing a time in the writer’s life after her had fled the USA on drug charges.

Marking Luca Guadagnino’s second collaboration with Challengers screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, this adaptation is a dreamlike (sometimes feverishly so) submersion in time and place, and in a queer scene rarely explored on screen.

At the heart of the film is a superbly nuanced performance by Daniel Craig, cast here against type and given space to transform. His work has earned a Golden Globe nomination.

Queer premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.

– Reece Goodwin, Curator (Film & TV)