Newlyweds Suze (Andrea Riseborough) and Arthur (Harry Melling) are an ostensibly straight, beatnik couple living in a bizarre, fever dream version of a 1950s Lower East Side. The night that they witness the murder of a man by a queer-coded, leather-clad greaser gang outside their apartment building, Arthur is struck with lust, and Suze, with gender envy. Their confounding queer awakening unfolds in an outlandish greaser tale of love and violence that confronts the unspoken battle between gender and expression in West Side Story by means of inversion.
Steeped in the candy-coloured iconography of old Hollywood musicals, the film wears all of its many, many cinematic and theatrical influences proudly and manages to never come across as derivative. Yet not everything works in Kramer’s neon-lit, sleazy, narratively minimal look into the queer psyche. There is nothing subtle about the film’s exploration of the fluidity of gender and sexuality, which permeates every sequence, at times rendering the commentary trite, over-the-top and didactic.
Still, the performances at the core of the film are stellar, and it comes as a surprise to no one that Andrea Riseborough gives a pure dynamite turn, contorting every inch of her face and body as the carnivalesque Suze. She has great chemistry with Melling’s meek Arthur, and they are both supported by a compelling ensemble, plus a fun cameo by Demi Moore.
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ANTICIPATION.
Billed as a cross-processing of West Side Story and Cry Baby? Say no more. 4
ENJOYMENT.
Favours style over substance, but I’m a sucker for the colour palette and set design nonetheless. 3
IN RETROSPECT.
One hell of a glossy, sexy, pastiche-fueled ride. 4
Directed by
Amanda Kramer
Starring
Andrea Riseborough, Harry Melling, Demi Moore
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