Luca Guadagnino’s latest film perfectly encapsulates the urge of trying to get someone to like you and the ache of not succeeding.
Written by Susan Dijker
Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name (2017), Challengers (2024)) brings us an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novel Queer. Set in 1950s Mexico City the story follows American expat William Lee (Daniel Craig) after having fled from a drug bust. He is queer and known in town as somewhat of a philanderer. When Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), a much younger man, moves into town, Lee becomes infatuated with him.
Guadagnino said in an interview with IMDb that he hopes to not have a style. I think this film exemplifies that, since it is completely different from his other works. Despite being nothing like, for example, Challengers, this movie still feels recognizable as Guadagnino’s in the beautiful and poetic way that he portrays bodies, as well as in the intricate way it deals with complex emotions.
Daniel Craig takes the lead in this film. Since I had only ever seen him in action hero roles before, I didn’t really know what to expect from his performance in a movie like this. I think he did an amazing job at acting out the incredibly complex emotions of his character. I quite literally could feel my stomach turning from being so immersed in the ache and discomfort that he portrays on screen.

Source: Queer (Guadagnino, 2025).
(Dis)Embodiment
Physical contact and embodiment are important elements of the film and are represented in various ways. As Lee is trying to connect with Allerton we see him reaching out to Allertons face through a phantom. In my opinion this is such a beautiful representation of Lee’s inner world, showing us his longing for physical contact but also his understanding that it might scare Allerton away. In a series of scenes where the two are hanging out, Lee is trying to impress Allerton with his stories. This sequence is presented in quite an upbeat way, but Guadagnino nevertheless manages to convey the relatable sense of uncomfortability that comes along with trying to get someone to like you. One of the things Lee talks about during these scenes is telepathy, a big theme throughout the film. The frequent mention of this phenomenon shows us, in a very unique and interesting way, Lee’s longing for a deeper connection with someone.
Physical contact is often spoken of by Lee as a level of communication that can’t be achieved through speech, such as when he tells Allerton “I want to talk to you without speaking.” In the second half of the film, when telepathy is actually achieved, we see the bodies of Lee and Allerton melt together as they experience the deepest connection possible; they are now literally talking without speaking.
A quote that I’ve found especially memorable is; “I’m not queer, I’m disembodied.” This is said by both Lee and Allerton at different points in the movie, in an attempt to explain their relationship to themselves. I think these words really tie the theme of the physical together, in a very powerful way.

Source: Queer (Guadagnino, 2025).
Centipedes
Throughout the film centipedes appear on screen. It is actually one of the first things we see, during the opening credits. The meaning of this recurring animal, however, is never made explicit. I was therefore quite confused and immediately looked up the symbolism of centipedes when I left the theatre. Here’s what I found; “Centipedes often represent hidden things, and may relate to a secret or repressed desire or trait.” Quite early on in the movie we see a man that Lee hooks up with wearing a centipede necklace. During his final moment on screen Allerton wears this same necklace. What these two men have in common, other than the necklace, is that they both don’t show any emotional affection towards Lee, repressing their queerness. I thought this was a very cool element that really shows how much attention to detail went into this film. However I think it is a missed opportunity to not explain the symbolism more explicitly, since I don’t feel like it is common knowledge. For me finding out this meaning made the whole story come together and feel much more special, but I’m afraid many people will not know about it unless they look it up.
Aside from the metaphorical meaning though, I also found that just the physical presence of the animal contributed to the experience of the uncomfortable feelings portrayed within the film. It might be my personal fear of insects, but the crawly legs and shiny brown exoskeleton of the real centipedes that were on screen made me feel quite uneasy. So, I think that even if the symbolism isn’t picked up on, the theme still adds to the story.

Source: Queer (Guadagnino, 2025).
Surrealism
The film contains many surrealist elements but in the last twenty or so minutes this is taken to a next level. Reminiscent of a Dali painting, larger than life eyeballs are seen and people fade from the image. Though this looked very cool, it slightly took me out of the emotion of the story. I had just watched a beautiful story about the ache and acceptance of unreciprocated feelings, and I felt like this final part tried to change the whole meaning. It became very unclear to me what had been real within Lee’s world and what hadn’t. Though I cannot deny that it made me think deeper about what I had just seen, which I can imagine was the goal, most of all I just felt a bit frustrated. I usually really enjoy films that I don’t understand right away, but in this case the complexity felt like too big of a switch from the rest of the film.
But even though I left the theatre pretty confused, in the end what I find most important in a film is that it makes me feel something - and Queer definitely did that.
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