''Queen Tut'' is a 2023 Canadian coming-of-age drama film, directed by Reem Morsi.Alex Cooper
"Watch Alexandra Billings shine in the trailer for the queer coming-of-age film 'Queen Tut'"
''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'', February 8, 2024. The film centres on Nabil (Ryan Ali), a closeted Coptic

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

teenager from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

who silently grieves the recent death of his mother, a prolific seamstress and gown maker. Relocating to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

to live with his estranged father Iskander (Dani Jazzar), a financially successful but emotionally rigid property developer, Nabil finds a new queer sense of belonging and alternative home when he meets Malibu ( Alexandra Billings), a longtime

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

bar owner and drag performer in the

Church and Wellesley Church and Wellesley is an gay village, LGBT-oriented enclave in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is roughly bounded by Gerrard Street (Toronto), Gerrard Street to the south, Yonge Street to the west, Charles Street to the north, and Jarvis Street ...

gay village whose historic queer nightclub faces the imminent threat of demolition and displacement by Iskander's development firm. Grappling with the tensions between his blood family and emerging chosen family, Nabil joins forces with Malibu's grassroots campaign to save the life of her bar and in the process, he not only cultivates his unique

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

persona, but integrates the loss of his mother by embodying her memory and resurrecting her presence through his art.Barry Hertz, "Canadian drag-scene drama Queen Tut has passion, but no rhythm: New Canadian drama Queen Tut is a case of good intentions marred by slipshod execution". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', February 20, 2024. The cast also includes Kiriana Stanton, Selena Vyle and Thom Allison, as well as Ben Sanders, Darrin Baker, Matt Willis, Danielle Bourgon, Cru Levey Cru Levey, Kendall Savage, Mostafa Shaker, Kaz Morgan, Khalid Karim, Minh Ly, Asil Moussa and Darren Stewart-Jones in supporting roles.

Production and distribution

The film entered production in Toronto in 2022, with shooting locations including

Nathan Phillips Square Nathan Phillips Square is an city square, urban plaza in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or ''New City Hall'', at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and is named after Nathan Phillips ( ...

, the Church and Wellesley village, and

Cinespace Film Studios Cinespace Film Studios is a group of film studio facilities in the US and Canada. It was founded in 1988 by Greek-Canadian Nick Mirkopoulos. The studio started with a facility in Vaughan, a suburb of Toronto, which had been in operation since the ...

. In addition to appearing in the film, Billings was also an executive producer, alongside Sonya Di Rienzo and Aeschylus Poulos. The film was screened at the

Cannes Film Market Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The city is ...

in May 2023. It premiered at Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival in September,"Reeling: 41st Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival schedule"
''Reel Chicago'', September 22, 2023. before going into commercial release in February 2024. It is slated to air on Crave in June 2024 for

Pride Month Pride Month, sometimes specified as LGBTQ Pride Month, is a List of month-long observances, month-long observance dedicated to the celebration of LGBTQ pride, commemorating the contributions of lesbian, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender a ...

Critical response

Barry Hertz of ''

'' wrote that while the film had good intentions, it did not execute them as successfully as the contemporaneous drag-themed film ''

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

''.

Awards

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 6903164 2023 films 2023 drama films 2023 LGBTQ-related films Canadian coming-of-age drama films Cross-dressing in Canadian films Drag (entertainment)-related films 2020s Canadian films English-language Canadian films Arabic-language Canadian films