Out since today in cinemas in Belgium, the shortish (85 minutes) feature animated film ‘Jim Queen and the Quest for Chloroqueer‘ offers a refreshing take on queer – or should I say gay? – film.
The synopsis: In the heart of the Parisian gay scene, Jim Parfait (Jim Perfect) is all-powerful: the ultimate Gym Queen, influencer, and object of everyone’s desire. But when he is struck by Heterosis (a bizarre virus that turns gay men straight), his reign comes to an abrupt end. Unfollowed, abandoned, and stripped of his status, Jim is left with only one last loyal follower: Lucien Bayer, a devoted, slender twink, and son of there very conservative Minister of Public Health. Together, they set out in search of a mysterious cure: not only to save Jim, but also to prevent the extinction of the gay community.
‘Jim Queen’ is a satire on the gay party scene, on LGBTQIA+ activism, on queer tropes. It throws so many clichés and stereotypes at you, at a high pace (the story is told in under 1.5 hours and that’s great), it becomes refreshing.
Yes, the rainbow is not akin Care Bear Land, people are harsh for each other. But when it matters, they rally together. The quest for a cure to Heterosis is in many ways an odyssey.
I enjoyed this refreshing gay film. It’s not gay utopia such as ‘Heartstopper‘ or ‘Red, White and Royal Blue‘, or the dramatic (as in terribly bad) ‘Single All The Way‘. It’s also not a nostalgic (for a mythologized past) activism rally as ‘Pride‘. Although this story does tackle growing reactionary conservatism in society. ‘Jim Queen’ is in a way a coming out story, but then with sex and jockstraps.
It’s all these, it’s an exaggeration (and also not that much) of everything queer life can be. I’m purposely not using the term ‘the community’.
Some reviewers write it’s too ‘Drag Race‘, too ‘South Park‘, or not intersectional enough, or not funny enough. Well guess what, reality is people’s circle(s) of friends and acquaintances is / are way more monogeneous as activists want us to believe.
Other reviewers genuinely liked the film, as do I.
I never laughed out loud, no. I enjoyed inhibitions in mainstream queer storytelling being torn apart, as if the makers don’t care what people think.
‘Jim Queen’ is not faultless, but it’s refreshing.
This film is niche. There were three people in the theatre. Don’t wait to see it.
‘Jim Queen’
- Directed by Nicolas Athane, Marco Nguyen.
- Written by Simon Balteaux, Marco Nguyen, Nicolas Athane, Brice Chevillard
- Starring: Alex Ramirès, Jérémy Gillet, François Sagat.
