Of course, talking about the best films of the year in January is always a risk. After all, eleven more months and many festivals await us that can offer unexpected discoveries. Based on the German cinema releases, there were already some strong things to see on the big screen in 2025.
A masterpiece has already started with Queer. Just four weeks after its screen debut, Challengers director Luca Guadagnino’s new film is streaming. From then on January 30, 2025 You can watch the film adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ literary original of the same name on Mubi with a subscription.
After Challengers, Luca Guadagnino has created another masterpiece with Queer
Queer takes us back to the 1950s and introduces us to an American who fled to Mexico City: William Lee (Daniel Craig). Far from home, he loses himself in alcohol and drugs until he meets the mysterious ex-soldier Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), who he can’t get out of his head.
You can watch the trailer for Queer here:
Queer – Trailer (German) HD
Although Eugene spends a lot of time with Lee, he always keeps him at a distance. However, Lee is finally able to persuade him to take a trip through South America with him – in search of a plant called Yage, which grows in the jungle of Ecuador and which Lee hopes will have a telepathic effect.
As straightforward as the story sounds: Guadagnino sees Queer primarily as a film that… told about moods and images becomes. Sometimes dreamy, sometimes enigmatic, sometimes in love, hopeless, threatening. Lee’s loneliness, longing and desire are expressed in beautiful, simple 35mm images.
Coming soon to a streaming subscription: With Queer, Daniel Craig moves further away from James Bond than ever before
Although at first glance Queer couldn’t be more different from Challengers, beneath the surface of both films lie fragile bodies and unfulfilled souls that want nothing more than to be noticed. Daniel Craig in particular can show a side that we see far too rarely.
As James Bond, he often let it be known that this berserker secret agent was also one fragile side owns. But he has never been able to move away from the type of role that people first associate with him as much as in Queer. Craig is completely immersed in the tragic story of the film.
Between beads of sweat on his forehead and white linen suits that increasingly match the brown tones of the surroundings, Craig loses himself in the jungle. Without Drew Starkey’s no less impressive performance, an important part would be missing. No wonder the camera is glued to the two of them as if hypnotized.
Queer will stream on Mubi from January 30, 2025. In addition to Craig and Starkey, the cast includes Jason Schwartzman, Henrique Zaga and Lesley Manville.