God Save the Queens is an engaging drag drama from director/writer Jordan Danger. We follow four drag queens as they struggle with making a livelihood from performing, while dealing with rejection, betrayal, ageism, and cynical exploitation. They wind up at therapy together, some against their will, and pour their hearts out to the group.
Gigi (Jordan Michael Green) is mounting a one-woman show, but can’t seem to pull in an audience until her friend, Olive (Thomas Ochoa) offers to handle promotion of the gig. Olive’s approach to advertising proves to be unconventional and arguably unethical, but the show sells out. Gigi must handle the backlash that ensues.
Rita (Laganja Estranja) and Stevie (Alaska Thunderf**k) were a performing duo until they fell out over a guy named Carlos (Francis Gonzalez). They are each approached by producers of a drag competition who want to cast them, but will only do so if they appear together.
Lewis / Marmalade (Kelly Mantle) is experienced and talented, but also reaching an age when drag performers usually step out of the spotlight. She finds herself fighting for her career when a key decision maker shows up at the club where she performs. The club is managed by Simon (Peter Facinelli), who is kindly and encouraging, but also pulls no punches when it comes to the business end of the business.
As they sit together in therapy and talk through their struggles, we learn of the agony and ecstasy in their lives. At one session the therapists are late, and they find themselves at the tender mercies of a supernatural substitute counselor, played by Luenell. Hence the title.
” … four drag queens wind up in therapy together, some against their will …”
God Save the Queens is a sequined, glittery film that shines even with a limited budget. In fact, more budget might ruin this experience, which is pitch perfect as it is. The viewer goes along on the journey through drag culture, feeling the highs and lows of life in heels. From the struggle of Gigi to get something started, to Marmalade trying to keep her career viable after years onstage, to Rita and Stevie trying to address the rift between them, each narrative is full of heart and energy. The drag queens are surrounded by sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek humor such as the caricatures of the hippy Topanga Canyon therapists deploying a saccharine faux-namaste schtick in their sessions. They are sickeningly soft-spoken and unctuous in the extreme.
Jordan Danger tells real stories of fictional drag queens, using real drag queens to play the roles. Every performance from the leads sparkles, and the pain of being different and trying to thrive comes through like you’ve had a mirror ball dropped on your head.
Learn more at the official God Save the Queens website.
"…a sequined, glittery film that shines"
