Queen of Earth (2015)
Two women who grew up together discover they have drifted apart when they retreat to a lake house together.
Director: Alex Ross Perry
Writer: Alex Ross Perry
Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Katherine Waterston, Patrick Fugit | See full cast and crew »
User Reviews
First off, I want to say that I hate the poster for this. The poster is the reason that I expected this to be completely different. It made it look like a Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf/Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? type of film, and since I didn't see the trailer, that's what I thought. I thought that it would be this really over-the-top, loud piece of work, and to the contrary, it's very similar in tone to Martha Marcy May Marlene, one of my favorites of this decade so far. I still definitely want to process my thoughts on it, especially because I'm not sure how great it is. I don't think the film will be without its supporters, but will it have lots of detractors? You bet, not only in the outside world but on this board as well. From the start the film puts you at a distance by making you question everything you're seeing. Everything seems off, and you don't quite know exactly how these two women ever came to be friends in the first place. This unsettling atmosphere is all that is needed to entrance you into everything that will happen in the film. But then, I'm not sure how much of it was earned. The film's greatness is something that I will need to ponder more.
What I don't need to ponder more, though, is the brilliance of Elisabeth Moss here. On TV, she's given one of my all-time favorite female performances in one of my all-time favorite series, Mad Men, so that in itself made me love her. Then last year came along, where she shined in The One I Love (funny how the setting for this and that are almost identical) and even moreso in Listen Up Philip (which left me cold and where she was easily the best, only great, thing about it). More of a fan. Now this. A very, very tricky role because there are so many different facets, but she is mesmerizing. Most of her performance and the film is silent and reflective, and unsurprisingly she excels at that. Her bigger scenes, of which there aren't many, are more surprising because I'd never seen Moss do much of that, definitely not on Mad Men. She's so eerily brilliant and painfully realistic. I thought this would be a fun performance to watch, didn't expect it to be so painful. Not because of the quality, but because this feels like a real person. The film plays in the border of surrealism and realism and still manages to be really effective.
What I don't get the hype for, though, is Katherine Waterston. She was really good in Inherent Vice, but I feel like she made a greater impact than the role required there and less of an impact than the role called for here. I couldn't help but imagine a more impactful actress in that role. She can be good, but a lot of it also comes across, I don't know, hollow? Definitely nowhere near what Moss does, even if we were to compare the first act of the film where both are equal in screen time and material.
