Queens of Drama film review: a substance-induced queer fever dream, and more …

Going hard on the armpit-licking, nipple-tweaking and booty twerking, Queens of Drama is a WLW film that knows exactly what it’s about.

Directed by French filmmaker Alexis Langlois and playing at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival until 19 November, you should absolutely check out this movie if only for the bangin’ original songs sung by tirple-threat actors Louiza Aura and Gio Ventura.

Check out this clip where character Mimi Madamour (Aura) sees her soon-to-be paramour Billie Kohler (Ventura) performing a punk song about buff ladies:

It’s 2055. Pop music is still very much in fashion, and so is obsessive, stalker-level stan culture. The ‘UTuber’ Steevyshady addresses the audience through a vlog titled ‘My confession’: he’s ready to spill all the tea about former pop idol Mimi Madamour and her punk icon lover Billie Kohler, starting with the peak of their fame in 2005 and ending with a very dramatic downfall.

And that’s how we hit play on a story of two lesbian singers in a high-camp, nostaglia-driven musical about the deadly allure of fame and the cult of celebrity. Prepare to cringe in recognition at the crop tops, cargo pants, and the Idol-esque ‘Star Factory’, a reality TV show designed to discover local singing talent and make them famous overnight.

Mimi, blessed with good looks and a diva voice, wins the show and tops the charts with her teeny-bopper hit Don’t Touch! (Pas Touche!) – which immediately threatens her closeted love affair with the institution-hating Billie. Lesbians in the public eye? Can’t have that! It’s a fairly typical story about the music industry and its inherent homophobia from here on in, but it’s kept afloat by the obnoxiously good songs (see below), and the YouTuber-narrator device.

Good luck getting this song out of your head.

ScreenHub: Aquarius film review: a celebration of radical ratbags

Queens of Drama, kings of shit-stirring

Amid the operatic melodrama about lesbians falling in love, hiding their love, breaking up and getting back together again, is a scathing commentary about the ways in which gay men can perpetuate misogyny – especially in fandom spaces. The narrator Steevyshady stalks and threatens Mimi throughout her career, all in the name of love and admiration. When he doesn’t get what he wants, he gets violent, or spreads hateful rumours about her and Billie online.

When Mimi is in her ‘reinvention’ era and clawing her way back into the public eye after being outed, she is confronted with two drag queens lampooning her song Don’t Touch!. The act is grotesque, and complete with overt representations of her genitalia and a pantomimed sexual assault. Curiously, these obviously misogynistic acts go unexamined for the rest of the film.

Oscillating between a substance-induced queer fever dream and the vibes of a hokey student film, Queens of Drama is at its best when making bold choices – and giving a deserved spotlight to its original soundtrack. At its worst, it’s a messy flick that twists its ankle on the final pose … but I still had fun.

Queens of Drama (Les Reines du drame) has its final showing at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival today, 19 November 2024. For more information, head to the MQFF website.