Solo made its UK premiere at Glasgow Film Festival this past week. While the festival often offers exceptional premieres and releases, this lacked the usual quality.
Solo follows Simon, an emerging drag queen in Montreal who becomes involved in a complicated relationship with new queen Olivier.
Excellent performances
Théodore Pellerin was excellent as Simon — showing a vast range of emotion as he tackles multiple complex matters, reuniting with his estranged mother and a controlling relationship with Olivier, who Félix Maritaud sells to the audience as a manipulative and cold man who uses Simon for only his own pleasure and gain.
While the drag scenes are well shot, with dynamic and neon lighting and camerawork that puts you right on the stage, the drag numbers themselves are generic and offer nothing inventive. In fact, Simon is given the least effective material to work with here despite being the central character. One performance involving a black drag queen and the cast holding BLM and other protest signs is emotional and carried an important message but is the only one to leave a lasting impression.
“Many audience members don’t want more sad queer stories”
So many queer stories are focused on tragedy or toxic relationships and Solo does nothing to resolve this.
While not inherently detrimental to the films quality, many audience members don’t want more sad queer stories.
Director Sophie Dupius could’ve made this a gleeful celebration of drag but it is bogged down by a melodramatic and clichè screenplay that doesn’t give the audience enough to care about and both main characters feel shallow and one-dimensional; Simon is the kindhearted soul who falls helplessly in love with Olivier.
Dupius also has a hard time wrapping things up with the final scene; a drag number where Simon breaks the fourth wall causing tonal whiplash, and falling into musical territory. This isn’t Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. It’s a clunky, cheesy, choice and a peculiar end a fairly serious film.
While Solo certainly has its interesting moments, director Sophie Dupius fails to capture an investing queer narrative or a loving celebration of gay drag culture.
Featured Image Credit: Glasgow Film
He/Him
Film & Media & Journalism Student
contact me: bem00218@students.stir.ac.uk
