''Workhorse Queen'' is a 2021

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by

Angela Washko Angela Washko is an American new media artist and facilitator based in New York. After nine years as a professor of art at Carnegie Mellon University, she is currently the Catherine B. Heller Collegiate Professor of Art at University of Michiga ...

. After a surprise casting onto reality television show

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

, 47-year old suburban telemarketing manager Ed Popil leaves his job to pursue a full-time entertainment industry career as his

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 ...

alter ego, 1960s-era housewife Mrs. Kasha Davis. The film premiered at the 2021

Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival is held in Los Angeles in late February and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization. The organization ...

. Workhorse Queen will be released on

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

and DVD through the film's distributor Breaking Glass Pictures on May 3, 2022, and on TV broadcast and streaming in June, 2022 on

STARZ Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

Plot

The documentary follows Ed Popil as he escapes from his day job at DialAmerica to perform as drag queen Mrs. Kasha Davis at night. After seven years of sending audition tapes to RuPaul's Drag Race casting calls, Ed Popil was finally cast onto Season 7 of the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show in 2015. Workhorse Queen explores how mainstream television has affected queer performance culture. In addition to following Ed's life before and after being cast onto Drag Race, the film focuses on the growing divide between members of the Rochester drag community – those who have been on TV, and those who have not. Throughout the film, audiences watch as Ed navigates the highs and lows of pursuing the fame promised by a reality television platform, including his struggles with

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

, declining bookings, and

ageism Ageism, also called agism in American English, is a type of discrimination based on one's age, generally used to refer to age-based discrimination against Old age, elderly people. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe this ...

within the industry. The film culminates in Ed returning to his home in Rochester and creating Imagination Station (a new variety show for children), which allows him to become the queer role model for kids that he never had growing up. In addition to highlighting Mrs. Kasha Davis' journey through drag communities and the entertainment industry, the film also features performances, interviews and vérité footage of his husband Steven Levins (aka Mr. Davis) and drag queens

Darienne Lake Greg Meyer (born November 27, 1971), better known by the stage name Darienne Lake, is a drag queen and television personality. Lake began performing in drag in 1990 in Rochester, New York before rising to prominence after competing on RuPaul's Dr ...

Pandora Boxx Michael Steck (born May 2, 1972), better known by the stage name Pandora Boxx, is an American drag queen, comedian, reality television personality, and singer. Hailing from Rochester, New York, Boxx competed in the second season of ''RuPaul's D ...

Bianca Del Rio Roy R. Haylock (born June 27, 1975), better known by the stage name Bianca Del Rio, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, and costume designer. She is known for winning the sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Since her time on ''Drag R ...

Tatianna Joseph Michael "Joey" Santolini (born December 1, 1987), better known by his stage name Tatianna, is an American drag queen, musician, and reality television personality from Washington, D.C. He is best known for competing on the second season o ...

, Tempest DuJour, Aggy Dune, Wednesday Westwood, Bebe Gunn (Australia), Jemima Handful (Australia), and many others.

Featured interviews

Appearances via archival footage

Reception

''Workhorse Queen'' premiered at the 2021

. The film holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Josiah Teal of

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an American online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. ...

said, “Workhorse Queen is as incredibly catty, stylish, and entertaining as you could hope.” Bears Rebecca Fonté of Hammer to Nail said, “…Workhorse Queen is the first film I've seen about a drag queen that even starts to deal with the difficulty and monolithic placement of RuPaul.” Malika Harris of Irish Film Critic gave the film 4 and a half out of 5 stars and said, “This documentary takes you through the ups and downs of what really happens post-reality TV fame…” Raquel Stetcher of Quelle Movies calls the film “a must see for fans of RPDR.”

Accolades

Official selection of: * 2021

* 2021

American Film Festival American Film Festival is a film festival held annually in October in Wrocław, Poland. The first festival was held from 20 to 24 October 2010. The festival is organized by Stowarzyszenie Nowe Horyzonty and co-funded by the Wrocław Municipality a ...

(Wroclaw, Poland) *2021

Bentonville Film Festival The Bentonville Film Festival (BFF) is an American film festival held annually in Bentonville, Arkansas that focuses on diversity. Foundation Bentonville Film Festival was founded by actress Geena Davis and ARC Entertainment executive Trevor Drin ...

* 2021

Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational fo ...

* 2021 Documentary Edge Festival New Zealand * 2021

Calgary Underground Film Festival The Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF) is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for seven days at the downtown Globe Cinema.Madelaine Lapointe"Stock up on popcorn, the Calgary Underground Film Festival is coming to a ...

* 2021

Milwaukee Film Festival The Milwaukee Film Festival is a public film festival held each spring, typically from late April through early May, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The festival is organized by Milwaukee Film, a cultural arts organization that operates Milwaukee's his ...

* 2021

Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is a movie screening event that takes place each October in Tampa, Florida. The primary venue is the Tampa Theatre, but several other cinemas in or near the downtown area and in St. Petersburg si ...

* 2021

Buffalo International Film Festival The Buffalo International Film Festival was founded in 2006, and takes place in October of each year in Buffalo, New York. It is also known as the Buffalo Film Festival. History The film festival became a 501c3 not-for-profit charity in January 20 ...

* 2021

Vancouver Queer Film Festival Out On Screen (formally the Vancouver Out On Screen Film & Video Society) is an LGBTQ-oriented arts organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It began as a small, community-based film festival in 1988 and was registered as a BC so ...

* 2021

New Haven Documentary Film Festival New Haven Documentary Film Festival (also known as NHdocs) is an annual documentary film festival held in New Haven, Connecticut, in early June. Screenings take place at Yale University’s Whitney Humanities Center Auditorium, the New Haven Free P ...

Awards

* Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature,

*Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature,

(Wroclaw, Poland)

References

External links

* * {{Official website, https://workhorsequeen.com/ *
Workhorse Queen
' at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

*
Workhorse Queen
' at

Letterboxd Letterboxd ( ) is an online social cataloging service for film founded (partially with investment company Tiny since 2023) and owned by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow in 2011, and headquartered in New Zealand. Members can rate and review ...

2021 documentary films 2021 films Drag (entertainment)-related documentary films RuPaul's Drag Race 2021 LGBTQ-related films 2020s English-language films American LGBTQ-related documentary films English-language documentary films