Queens had its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on 1 March.
The film revolves around a Peruvian family intending to flee the current political situation. Its story is a testament to the importance of family – mistakes were made and selfish decisions taken. This situation of intending to leave the country allowed rekindling an otherwise dead relationship between father and daughters.
“Mis Reinas” is what Carlos (Gonzalo Molina) calls his daughters – “My Queens” in English – having “Queens” as the title of the movie emphasises the importance of the daughters. They are the centre of this movie and are the contributing factor to Eleana (Jimena Lindo) realising her decision to leave the country without considering her daughters’ feelings, had been selfish, even with the best of intentions.
The girls are also the catalyst for Carlos’ character development. The one hurdle that Eleana has to overcome in order to leave the country is receiving a signature from Carlos– her possible ex-husband and her daughters’ estranged father. As Carlos spends more time with his daughters over the course of the movie, he realises he wants to be more present. Despite this, Carlos does sign the form allowing them to move country, and this is a testament to his character development.
I enjoyed the film; the story was captivating and easy to follow. The characters are well written and easily sympathised with. The film tugs at the emotional heartstrings, particularly towards the end when Aurora (Luana Vega) runs away in an attempt to get out of leaving the country and to find her dad.
Queens overall was an enjoyable watch. However there were many unanswered questions that took away from the experience – what happened to Jorge at the police station? What is Carlos’ true job? How many of his stories are true? I would have liked some of these loose ends to have been tied up, but otherwise, it was a truly great film.
Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars
Fourth year English and Creative Writing Student.
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