Review of Queen of Earth (2015) by David M — 28 Dec 2015

Grade: A.

Alex Ross Perry's Queen of Earth looks like a 70s euro film and is scarier than most movies you'll see this year. This setup is extremely simple: Two best friends come together to spend time at a lakehouse after Catherine (with a C) has had her father commit suicide and was dumped by her boyfriend. The film follows their week there as we see Catherine's mental state start slowly deteriorating as paranoia, suspicion, pain, and malice bubble under the surface of every mundane conversation and interaction.

The grainy camerawork is a joy to watch as the scenes fade in and mirror and parallel images in a way that is subtle but striking. The script is bleak and cutting. But it all sings because of the two central performances of Waterson and Moss. Waterson is the modern day Maria Schneider (Last Tango in Paris, Passenger) in the classic ambiguous euro-beauty who always seems to have some unknowable core as she stares at her friend. Moss should have an Oscar nomination for her role which finds her hitting every single emotion on the scale. She is manic, depressed, laughing, scathing, sobbing, indignant, petrified, one after another and simultaneously. It's a Herculean performance, the best I've seen all year. And extra kudos for deploying (a grown-up) Patrick Fugit better than any previous movie.

It's a bleak descent into madness in a way that feels frighteningly plausible in its plainness. The contradiction in the singing birds in the background against a bitter conversation... we all came here to relax...