No matter how rough-edged the men and women of Alex Ross Perry‘s films are, none carry the pain that so marks Catherine, the protagonist of his fourth feature, Queen of Earth. Less a diversion from his earlier work, more an expansion of the trauma that gives them a soul — think of Kate Lyn Sheil’s monologue at the end of Impolex, the final brother-sister conversation in The Color Wheel, or the quick revelation about Philip’s parents in Listen Up Philip — it’s also a searing, sometimes genuinely suspenseful tight-rope walk of female friendship, male-female dynamics, and the effects of seclusion, with best-of-career work from DP Sean Price Williams and editor Robert Greene. And, as was the case with Listen Up Philip, it’s impossible to imagine a version without the tremulous, even apocalyptic Elisabeth Moss.
So take my word that Queen of Earth is quite good and leave it at that, in turn avoiding an otherwise effective French trailer which has recently made its way online. The problem is that, along with giving away a late-in-the-game, essential monologue, seeing any in-motion pieces might compromise something essential about Perry’s sense of progression — something pure, I suppose, that comes with the first image being more or less the first thing you’ve seen from this movie. If you’re unsure about its prospects and think this might sway you, I suggest you just read our rave review.
Watch it below (via Keyframe):
Queen of Earth will enter a limited release on August 26.