Queer ~ A Capsule Movie Review by Allen Kopp

The 2024 movie “Queer” is based on a semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by William S. Burroughs. It’s a perfect example of a movie that’s better than the novel on which it’s based. The movie has a poignancy that is lacking in the novel.

English actor Daniel Craig plays the main character in “Queer.” His name is William Lee, but he goes by the name “Lee.” He’s about fifty, American, and well educated. Lee lives the life of the exile in Mexico City.

The thing about Lee is that he’s a junky, addicted to opiates. He ran afoul of the law in the United States, and this is the reason he lives in Mexico City.

Another thing about Lee is that he doesn’t work—he spends a lot of time drinking in bars—but he seems to have enough money to support himself without doing much of anything. We might call him an amiable dilettante. He is also a homosexual. He enjoys moderate success with the young men he’s interested in.

When Lee sees ex-soldier Gene Allerton, he is shaken to the core. Gene is slender and soft-spoken, about 25. Let’s say Lee likes Gene a lot. He sees something in Gene that he doesn’t see in other young men of his acquaintance. They begin a tentative love affair. Gene goes with women, which suggests he is straight, but he seems willing to go along with whatever Lee wants. He is that rare commodity, an open-to-anything heterosexual.

Lee invites Gene to go to South America with him. He will even pay his way. He is surprised and delighted when Gene agrees to go. He believes the trip will cement their relationship. The last third of the movie is taken up with Lee and Gene’s uncomfortable trip to South America and their stay with an eccentric American doctor in the jungle and her much-younger husband.

“Queer” will not be to everybody’s taste, of course. It is currently being shown on HBO. If you are open-minded enough, you might find it worth your time. Especially if you, like me, are fed up with all the juvenile crap being passed off as entertainment now. I see there’s a new Superman movie. Okay, we’ve already seen that. I want to see what I haven’t seen before.

Copyright © 2025 by Allen Kopp