The performances are stellar but this is a slow, cliche-ridden arthouse film that doesn’t really do justice to either the protagonists or the subject matter. Luca Guadagnino’s fourth consecutive film featuring queer American twink protagonists, the second with screenwriter Jason Kuritzkes is as compelling and uneven as his last two outings. Bones and All and Challengers were visually alluring, tonally seductive and brilliantly acted, but had almost no substance at all. Call Me By Your Name aimed to adapt a queer rites of passage story, which I'd argue it largely succeeded at, but since then Guadagnino's storytelling has felt less assured. Queer's Focus on Craig’s drug addled William Lee (an obvious William S Boroughs analogue) offers potential points of interest - what's behind Lee's disaffection in 1950's Mexico City? How is he so confidently out? What was a gay relationship with an age gap like in that age? What answers we get are retrodden from countless other stories, complicated by a descent into psychedelia and ultimately confusing artsy nonsense, leaving the film with a non-ending. Again. I'm happy with artsy nonsense - David Lynch is a hero of mine, and given this is a Burroughs story I expected confusion and psychedelia, but there are themes Guadagnino and Kuritzkes put into play that they leave largely open which I find annoying. And the epilogue is very annoying. Craig and Starkey are amazing though, even though the younger man has little to do. Their differing ideas about their identities aren't ever given the screen time they deserve, nor is there a resolution which fits comfortably with the drama. A lot has been said about the bravery of their sex scenes, but I'd argue they're no braver than any heterosexual scene, and Craig is predictably allowed to keep his modesty. There's little bravery there. It's a mesmerising film, but neither Craig's nor Starkey's characters go through meaningful change, even after their ayahuasca experience. Maybe the attempt to escape who they are is the point, but it doesn't feel enough to carry a 2+ hour screenplay. Craig (despite his appalling American accent - how is he failing to improve it?) will no doubt win awards for his performance, and Queer is an occasionally very lush cinematic experience (I love the soundtrack) but it's mostly a case of sound and fury signifying very little.