Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey share a woozy, sun-drenched romp in the first trailer for the unconventional romantic drama “Queer,” which is expected to be an award season front-runner.
“Queer,”due out Nov. 27 and directed by Luca Guadagnino, is a loose adaptation of the unfinished William S. Burroughs novel of the same name. The film stars Craig as Burroughs’ fictional alter ego, William Lee, who embarks on a whirlwind romance with a younger American man, Eugene Allerton (Starkey), while they are living as expats in 1940s Mexico City.
Together, the two men set out on a trek across Latin America in search of a hallucinogenic drug that is believed to grant its users telepathic powers. Their travels include some unexpected encounters with a host of colorful characters, portrayed by Lesley Manville and Jason Schwartzman, among others.
“Queer” is Guadagnino’s second film this year, after “Challengers,” which starred Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor and Zendaya. The Italian director is best known to U.S. audiences for the Oscar-winning 2017 drama “Call Me by Your Name,” in which Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer portray star-crossed lovers in 1980s Italy.
Much of the early buzz on “Queer” has emphasized the film’s steamy love scenes. Only time will tell if Craig will snag his first Academy Award nomination for the movie, but it’s already helped shake what remains of his James Bond image.
“Scripts don’t come around like this very often, so when they do, you grab them,” the British actor told USA Today after “Queer” was screened at the 2024 New York Film Festival in October. “I didn’t know what the end result would be, but I knew the journey would be something else.”
He went on to note: “Certainly the reason I wanted to get into cinema was because of movies like this. It’s something I was doing a lot of in my early career before I did the other thing.”
Watch the “Queer” trailer below.