Queen of Earth
Shaken by her father's death and a difficult breakup, Catherine retreats to the lakeside cabin of her friend Virginia in an attempt to heal. But their once-strong friendship begins to strain, with the constant presence of boy-next-door Rich further amplifying the simmering tension between the women. Writer/director Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Philip, MIFF 14) takes a cue from Robert Altman's 3 Women and Ingmar Bergman's Persona to create a psychological drama that verges toward horror, ably helped out by Sean Price Williams' often-claustrophobic 16mm cinematography. Mad Men star Elisabeth Moss is extraordinary as the acerbic, wounded Catherine, with Katherine Waterston equally memorable as Virginia.
Reviews
“Writer-director Alex Ross Perry conjures such a strong atmosphere around his characters – and Elisabeth Moss and Katherine Waterston are so powerful in the leads –that one gets sucked into their emotional conflict.” – Chicago Reader
“Hell is other people – especially the ones who know you best – in Alex Ross Perry's acidly funny and unnerving portrait of a psychological breakdown.” – Variety
“Queen of Earth plays like a horror. Yet, at its heart it is a devastating story of depression and its impact.” – The List