The world of drag queens in cinema has been defined at most in recent years by the huge success of THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT amongst other films, but the smaller independent films can also tell a fair story and give us an insight into the façade behind the façade as the complexities of why somebody would choose to do this amidst the challenge of acceptance amongst the world is always ripe for analysis in storytelling.
YOUR EYES ON ME, one of the key screenings at the 2020 London Independent Film Festival, focuses on an intimate group of individuals connected via the flamboyance of performance at the heart of London’s drag cabaret scene.
Gloria (Paul Stone) is a fixture on the scene and performs admirably with help from drag bar owner Toni (co-producer Niamh Sullivan). Meanwhile, Alex (Jean-Philippe Boriau) has been tracking Gloria thanks to a private detective who informs him that the situation is more complicated than expected via a letter he gives him in a coffee bar early on in the film.
Alex arrives at the venue to audition as part of Gloria’s new act and the two form a bond as a drag mother and daughter, staging rehearsals in what initially appears to be a fun performance. However, certain other complications, both emotional and sexual, start to inform their relationship and potentially its’ destiny…
YOUR EYES ON ME is very much a story of identity and transformation, with the characters all coming to terms with their own truth within. This is not designed to be a camp parody of what one suggests or suspects the world contains, but a very tender and honest appraisal of the reasoning behind why people pursue this line of work and the emotional attachments and complexities it brings, as well as the effect it has on close relations throughout life.
Writer, director and co-producer Sergei Alexander handles the intimacy of the performances with respect and appreciation for their heart, utilising an understated but effective score by composer Alex Wallace. It’s compactly structured with an effectively shocking revelation which confounds the very core of emotions, but which opens up the characters and story without compromise.
There is much more in this story – and one which would be appreciated by any number of families and couples who are coming to terms with heightened emotional conflict and closure in their own lives, so certainly a movie that should open up discussion for all.
YOUR EYES ON ME screens as part of the London Independent Film Festival 2020
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