Luca Guadagnino’s Queer is a Bold Dive into the Surreal and Subversive

MUBI x SHARP

A snake eating its own tail, an anthropomorphic necklace, a nude ayahuasca trip in which hearts explode out of mouths — these are just a few of the surreal metaphors coursing through Queer, a new film that explores the landscape of queer identity in a pastiche of 1950s counterculture. It’s the latest and perhaps most experimental of director Luca Guadagnino’s films exploring love, desire, and self-discovery, making it a perfect fit for MUBI, a streaming service known for its curation of visionary arthouse and indie films.

Queer is based on an unfinished novella of the same name by William S. Burroughs and follows William Lee (Daniel Craig), an American expat in Mexico City who spends most of his days indulging in alcoholism, self-loathing and heroin addiction until he meets Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), a former soldier. Lee is enamoured with the distant Allerton, and the two travel to South America on a quest for yagé, a plant said to offer telepathic abilities to those who consume it. Loosely based on Burroughs’ own wild exploits — the mythical Beat figure was forcibly closeted by his family and later exiled from the U.S. due to his drug use and firearms (both which resulted in the apparent accidental shooting and subsequent death of his wife) — Queer portrays the agony and ecstasy of pursuing heady, all-consuming connection.

Guadagnino, renowned for his provocative, lush films like I Am Love (2009), Suspiria (2018) and this year’s Challengers, is an influential figure in contemporary cinema, particularly when it comes to exploring themes of identity and intimacy. His works are often marked by their sensuality, emotional depth, and keen exploration of complex human relationships. Queer, which marks his first project directly centred around LGBTQ+ themes since 2017’s landmark, Call Me by Your Name, has already garnered critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination for Craig’s performance as the world-weary Lee.

Guadagnino is a universe maker, and an opulent one at that (he recently designed Palazzo Taia, a boutique hotel in Rome that features many of his aesthetic markers). To wit, Queer marks his latest collaboration with Loewe and J.W. Anderson creative director, Jonathan Anderson, who served as costume designer on the film. A far cry from his typically glamorous tuxedos, Craig spends most of the film in dusty, stained white suit and fedora. Meanwhile, the clean-cut Starkey wears sheer, pastel layers that are styled with a fluid yet masculine edge. In Mexico City, the characters’ wardrobes meld with a tint of butter yellow — at once dirty and divine. As the two pass through the verdant landscapes of the Brazilian Amazon, their washed-out wardrobes appear the perfect contrast, grounding each character in their transformations.

Through non-linear narratives and fragmented timelines, the complexity of the queer experience soars to new heights in Queer. In the latter half of the film, the jungle’s primal force mirrors Lee and Allerton’s internal chaos (with a cameo from an unrecognizable Lesley Manville), pushing them toward a climactic moment of reckoning. In the end, Queer offers no clear resolution, but instead leaves its characters — and audience — lost in a new, uncertain freedom.

Queer is now playing in theatres, get tickets here. 

Photos by Yannis Drakoulidis. Courtesy of MUBI.

The post Luca Guadagnino’s Queer is a Bold Dive into the Surreal and Subversive appeared first on Sharp Magazine.