Queens Of The Dead

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2025 REVIEW! Queens Of The Dead is the feature-length debut of writer-director Tina Romero, who is the daughter of the horror titan George Romero. She co-wrote the comedic zombie flick with stand-up comedian Erin Judge. The filmmaker has assembled an enviable cast for any production, much less an indie affair from a first-timer, including Katy O’Brian, Jack Haven, Riki Lindhome, Margaret Cho, and Tom Savini, to name but a few. Does all this talent coalesce into a good time, or does Romero struggle under the burden of her first feature?

Dre (O’Brian) is set to launch the most significant part of her career when the drag superstar Yasmine (Dominique Jackson) backs out. To help figure out how to fix this last-minute issue, Dre calls her wife, Lizzy (Lindhome), who plays a verbal chess match to get fellow nurse Sam (Jaquel Spivey) into the now-open spot. The problem is that Sam was poised to be the biggest drag personality in all of N.Y.C. and left it all due to an inexplicable bout of stage fright. On top of all this, the outsized personalities of the non-headlining talent are causing chaos behind the scenes. At the same time, Kelsey (Haven) deals with the numerous issues the facility is facing to ensure it’s suitable for paying customers. Dre’s brother-in-law, Barry (Quincy Dunn-Baker), comes to help out, but he is unfamiliar with drag, the performers, and the correct pronouns to use with whom.

“…the grey-hued shambling corpses make their way into the party, ruining the evening.”

As if Dre didn’t already have enough to worry about, a zombie infestation is breaking out across the city. Inevitably, the grey-hued shambling corpses make their way into the party, ruining the evening. Now, Dre, Sam, Nico (Tomas Matos), Barry, and Ginsey (Nina West) must figure out how to contact their loved ones and make it out alive. However, conflicts on how best to do that create tension among the group, in part due to the limited information available about the zombies, as the mayor’s (Savini) broadcast is interrupted. Meanwhile, Lizzy and patient Jane (Eve Lindley) are attempting to get to Dre amid the rampaging undead.

The only issue in Queens Of The Dead is the makeup of the zombies. I thought the first zombie shown was a reveler in silver body paint, but nope, the zombies are just grey. This makes them dull from a visual standpoint. Interestingly, the zombie rats are far cooler in design and feature small, macabre touches that enhance their sense of danger simply by appearance.