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An American ex-pat in 1950s Mexico City finds connection with a young student.
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In 1950s Mexico City, William Lee, an American ex-pat in his late forties, leads a solitary life amidst a small American community. However, the arrival in town of Eugene Allerton, a young student, stirs William into finally establishing a meaningful connection with someone.
"Queer is an ambitious project by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino. After all, it’s the adaptation of a novel of the same name by William S. Burroughs, one of the key figures of the Beat Generation, whose works are often deemed "unadaptable". Here, however, Justin Kuritzkes's screenplay (Challengers) divides the narrative into two main arcs: on one side, Lee’s (Daniel Craig) attempts to win over a young man he meets in Mexico during a particularly troubled period of his life; and later, his journey to South America to experiment with a new hallucinogenic plant. With surrealist tones where the imagery doesn’t always convey what it seems, the film delves into the protagonist’s loneliness, even when surrounded by people, and his struggles to find his place in the world. Lee’s relationship with his own sexuality is another point of interest, masterfully handled by Guadagnino. Even when Queer isn’t fully comprehensible, it evokes something—a feeling, an emotion. And that’s what keeps you engaged until the end, questioning the film’s choices along the way."