The director immediately classifies the work as part of the cult movie tradition when Hassani in the opening announces that this is a tale for the rejects, the misfits, the outcasts and all of rest of the gloriously alienated. The central song in the movie is a love duet called “Fist Me to My Heart” for Pete’s sake. Queens Of Drama wears its cult movie badge pierced to it’s nipple.
It tastes like a cult movie from opening kaleidoscopic imagery of gleaming compact discs and flowing blond hair all the way to the completely bat guano loco finale that references Stephen King of all things. Langlois has the visual volume turned up to sensory overload and leaves it there. Every frame hits the same heights of frontier-breaking hyper-stylization as Natural Born Killers did back in the wild 90s. Those of us who saw that masterpiece six times during its theatrical run will recognize Langlois’s work as a similar beautiful cinematic beast that has gotten loose from its cage.
“…delivered the most outrageous cult movie musical since The Phantom of the Paradise…”
Boy, the Millennials are going to eat this up with a thousand plastic sporks. They have barely had time to come down from their I Saw The TV Glow trip, only to get slapped in the face by Queens of Drama, which will be their new favorite movie of all time. Langlois doesn’t even try to hide that Mimi is Britney and Steevy is the “Leave Britney Alone” freak.
As to who everyone else is supposed to represent, I don’t dare even guess. I am a good 15 years too old to have any knowledge of or emotional attachment to the mouse ear divas of the turn of the century. I have an idea as to how much all that crap means to Millennials because of all the crap I get for my devotion to Duran Duran. I also enjoy watching that generation’s film reflections on the pop diva age they lived through, as they all kick the glitter far beyond glam for some outlandish visions. Some, like Vox Lux, were absolutely awful, while others, like Smile 2, were absolutely brilliant. But none of them come close to the unspeakable insanity that steers Queens of Drama. The juiciness of the storyline overflows into a series of rushing strawberry rapids that will carry you away. The only thing that outruns everything is the high voltage shock factor, whose switch is thrown over and over again. Time to get your face all wet at a screening of Queens of Drama. After viewing it, the subtitles below you will read “Oh My F*****g Goodness!”
"…hits the same heights of frontier breaking hyper-stylization as Natural Born Killers"
