Luca Guadagnino is on quite the hot streak this year. Already having found both critical and commercial success with this tennis themed throuple thrill ride ‘Challengers‘ he now comes at us with ‘Queer’ based on the William S. Burroughs novel of the same name. In ‘Queer’ we follow William Lee, a gay man living in Mexico City, portrayed by non other than James Bond himself, Daniel Craig. Lee is an American expat, lounging in the gay community of Mexico City and taking every ounce of pleasure he can from life.

The first act of ‘Queer’ is it shining it’s brightest. As Lee wanders through a fugue state of drug addled surrender to his senses he stumbles upon a young man named Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey) who Lee becomes immediately infatuated with. Usually when Lee finds a sexual partner he gets a motel, keeping himself shut off from any kind of relationship. Not to mention his friend and confidant Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) mentions that his most recent lover robbed him, taking some money as well as his boots. As Lee chases young Allerton he lets himself be bare, even as Eugene (after having spent the night) expresses that he’s not “queer” like Lee. He keeps himself distant and is often aggresive towards Lee’s advancements depending on what his current mood is.

Mexico City in the 50s is a marvelous backdrop for all of this to unfold, and the set design is such that you’re ably to buy in very easily. But in the second act we leave Mexico City behind as Lee convinces Eugene to go on a vacation with him to South America. As they depart Lee’s heroine habit takes a further hold on him. The beats of a gay man struggling with drugs and alcohol are a rote and dull in comparison with the complex nature of the characters courtship in the first act. Eugene still feels distant even on the trip, and Lee’s less than stellar state as he craves for a fix does not help their relationship. Lee just needs to understand Eugene, get a peek into who he is, and it’s here where the combination of his chasing his desires, and his relationship with Eugene meet.

Lee hears of a plant that will give him the ability of telepathy. To truly understand someone and what they’re thinking is the only thing he wants. It also certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s a new drug to take. So he embarks deep into the rainforest to meet with a doctor that’s an expert in yage, or ayahuasca, as we know it today. So off into the rainforest goes Lee, on a desperate search to both understand someone else, and get a little high.

‘Queer’ is excellent at it’s highest points, and frustratingly predictable at it’s lowest. Craig and Schwartzman are both highlights that make the film worth visiting, and while I was concerned at around the halfway point, the film rights itself in the back half and is a worthy star in the constellation that is Luca Guadagnino’s body of work.

3.5/5