Daniel Craig Is Phenomenal in Luca Guadagnino’s Hallucinatory Imagining of William S. Burroughs’ ‘Queer’

Alci Rengifo

In modern literature there are few figures like William S. Burroughs. He was a major talent defined by his place in the Beat movement and his tragic image as a man wrecked by addiction. All of Burroughs’ works are highly personal, none more so than his early novella “Queer,” originally penned in 1952, after killing his second wife, as sequel of sorts to “Junkie.“ Yet it was left unfinished, and remained unpublished until 1985, perhaps as it was too vulnerable a story after Burroughs became known as an edgy, gun-toting Beat. Now adapted by Luca Guadagnino into a meditative reflection on desire and vice, “Queer” is a channeling of the semi-autobiographical book and its author. Daniel Craig transforms himself into an anxious vessel living in exile, seeking human contact while his body is slowly being consumed by the need for narcotics. Humid and, at times, emotionally roiling, this film is immersive in a way beyond the mere idea of entertainment.

Vastly different from Guadagnino’s other major film earlier this year, “Challengers,” this one is Guadagnino when he slows down and lingers over his characters. Craig plays William Lee, a Burroughs alter ego wandering Mexico City shortly after World War II. He is a writer lounging around a certain corner of the city, mingling with other gay expats. For William, this place provides enough of a haven from dogged conservative America to the point where he can shoot heroin without facing serious legal consequences. Then, one night while happening upon a cockfight in the street, William sees Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey) and is instantly taken in. He begins to essentially scope out the younger fellow American. Is Eugene playing hard to get? Suddenly, the fiercely independent writer can’t resist the turmoil of desire.

“Queer” is hypnotic in the way it sets up an environment where everything feels as if it is moving at an observant pace. Guadagnino then infuses the material with a grungy, semi-punk feel. The opening credits have an aesthetic borrowed from graffiti while the soundtrack features the likes of Nirvana. “Come as You Are” plays when William first sees Eugene. It is an acknowledgement of the impact of the Beats movement on popular culture as well as an artistic statement on the transcendental nature of Burroughs’ literature. “It’s the first time I’ve adapted anything,” writer Justin Kuritzkes, who also wrote “Challengers,” told Entertainment Voice. “When I was reading the book for the first time I was surprised, after having read some of Burroughs’ other work, to discover that ‘Queer’ is a simple, straight forward love story between two complicated people.”

The desires driving “Queer” are not so much ambitious or only sexual, but about freedom. William may be an alter ego, but he is fully representative of Burroughs’ days wandering Mexico and other countries, at times lounging around with Beat legends like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. In “Queer,” amalgams of such figures can be seen in denizens like Joe (Jason Schwartzman), who bemoans bringing young men home who tend to steal from his apartment. Despite such dangers, there is a bohemian air of living without restraints. William can write, poison himself and casually take a young prospect to a hotel, like the one played by singer-songwriter Omar Apollo. “It’s great to be part of such an important story,” Apollo told Entertainment Voice. ”It’s time a movie like this with this cast gets out there. Luca read the book when he was 18 and it impacted him.” You can feel that connection in every frame. Guadagnino isn’t just adapting the book, he’s pulling from it very human moments. William’s sex scenes with either a casual encounter or with Eugene are so intense they verge on catharsis. To be able to be with who you truly want is a rarity and William gets his chance.

At first, the romance in “Queer” can take on the tone of a battle of wills. Eugene may like William but not fall into the same well of obsession. William sees him flirt with other men at parties and falls into a depressed mood tempered by alcohol. To want so deeply can be self-destructive, which is only compounded by Williams’ need for opiates. The journey becomes hallucinatory when the two men go on a trip into the Amazon. Seeking transcendence from his inner demons, William travels to Quito, Ecuador to get yage, an ingredient in ayahuasca, and Eugene tags along despite the older man shivering in the night, from need of a fix. Maybe there is more devotion there than we realize. The real Burroughs was a portrait of immense talent dented by addiction. His face was eternally sad and his voice a crinkly, yet powerful emitter of words full of dark eloquence and pain. Daniel Craig brilliantly channels Burroughs before the literary figure. He is manic but also romantic and nice to his friends. Craig takes chances in pursuing Eugene, then by seeking oblivion in the Amazon. The point is; he marches to the beat of his own drum.

The same can be said about Guadagnino, a filmmaker whose next phase is always hard to predict. “Queer” can be ranked along his emotionally intense, yet slower dramas like “Call Me By Your Name,” where a relationship can leave one haunted by the end. Burroughs was eternally haunted and Craig wonderfully evokes his ghost. Yet, put aside knowledge of the author and Guadagnino’s “Queer” works as an immersive journey with a man potentially caught in a bit of limerence, that state of mind where we love in a way that may very well be grounded in delusion. In such a state, even notions of shame can disappear and Craig allows himself to be fully uninhibited and vulnerable. The cinematography by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom conjures Mexico City as a hazy dream. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ music score isn’t about enhancing mood but surrounding us in it. Guadagnino honors a great author by taking chances and breaking a few rules himself. “Queer” follows no rules, it invites you to lounge around with its main character and feel his yearnings.

“Queer” releases Nov. 27 in New York and Los Angeles and expands Dec. 6 in select theaters.