- Director
- Yuan Bin Lei
- Rating
- n/a
- Running Time
- 62 minutes
- Release Date
- n/a
Overall Score
Rating Summary
This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.
Baby Queen is a poignant that is sure to resonate with 2slgbtq+ audiences. Offering them a window into the life of a young Singaporean drag queen and how they reconciled with his life and the world around them as they live in a politically-charged climate in a country that wasn’t ready to accept them for who they were. Following the day-to-day life of Opera Tang, the film was essentially a coming-of-age story of sorts that ultimately shines in its most intimate moments as Tang engages with their family, friends, and local community. However, the film also does not shy away from the harsh reality of their situation as its joyous moments came alongside plenty of struggle. Forced to operate within a constrained box imposed on them by society, the contrast between their regular life and their life as Opera Tang and then how those lives melded together, for better or worse, was compelling to watch. Ultimately, all the film needed to do was to put the camera on Tang and let them go but their 90-year-old grandmother was easily a scene-stealer in her own right. The dynamic between the two was definitely the best part of the film.
As the film dove deeper into Tang, it became that much easier to connect with and understand them as audiences learn about their story and how it got them to who they were today. While the self-discovery angle as they used their journey through this other persona to better understand themselves was compelling to watch, the activism angle also helped to shine a light on the state of the issues in Singapore and how much further the country needed to go. As mentioned, from a filmmaking angle, the film merely puts a camera on Tang and captures their story on a very intimate level that only adds to the experience. Running at only 62 minutes, the film may not seem all that long, however, it packs quite a lot in.
At the end of the day, those looking for a more substantive film about the issues within Singapore, Baby Queen may not be it but it was never about that. Rather, it’s a slice-of-life documentary and a celebration of queer life.
*still courtesy of Tiger Tiger Pictures*
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.