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Queens of the Qing Dynasty

Play trailer Poster for Queens of the Qing Dynasty 2023 2h 2m Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
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84% Tomatometer 19 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
In a remote small town, a neurodivergent teen forms an unlikely rapport with an international student from Shanghai volunteering at the hospital where they are a patient. Between the two, a bond forms, cemented by their candid conversations, nightly text messages, and exchange of their deepest secrets. The boundaries of their friendship quickly expand into something special, altering their inner alchemy. Queens of the Qing Dynasty is a queer story that breaches the absurd and poetic, the platonic and the romantic. Both intimate and intense, it explores the intrinsic beauty and innate flaws of what it is to be human, the profundity of connection, and the vortex of mental illness. The electronic music score blurs between cinema foley and sound design to create a feeling of an alternate plane. Queens of the Qing Dynasty is an affectionate ode to women, asexuals, and neurodiverse and genderqueer individuals who exist beyond the norms of society by writer and director Ashley McKenzie (Werewolf, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival).

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Queens of the Qing Dynasty

Critics Reviews

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Cath Clarke Guardian 11/14/2023
3/5
It’s a disorientating, unrelaxing two-hour experience, but rewarding. Go to Full Review Beatrice Loayza New York Times 05/04/2023
The wonderfully bizarre Canadian drama “Queens of the Qing Dynasty” understands queerness the way that bell hooks did: as a “self that is at odds with everything around it.” Go to Full Review Alexandra Heller-Nicholas AWFJ.org 05/01/2023
An emotionally intelligent portrait of two lost souls who find each other, Queens of the Qing Dynasty is a charming work of subtle power. Go to Full Review David Bax Battleship Pretension 09/27/2024
Those moments that do stand out are often accompanied by the squelchy, almost otherworldly original electronic music on the soundtrack, provided by Cecile Believe and Yu Su. Go to Full Review Katelyn Nelson Daily Grindhouse 08/01/2024
Watching Queens of the Qing Dynasty is a transportive, almost out-of-body experience. There is so much of these characters laid bare on the screen—not all of it good or comfortable—and played so effectively. Go to Full Review Matthew Creith IN Magazine 07/25/2023
By the end of Queens of the Qing Dynasty, we are left with a transformative relationship that unravels to a haunting electropop score. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
Queens of the Qing Dynasty

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Cast & Crew

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Ashley McKenzie

Director

Sarah Walker

Star

Ziyin Zheng

An

Wendy Wishart

Gail

Jana Reddick

Actor

Xue Yao

Violet

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Queens of the Qing Dynasty

Queens of the Qing Dynasty (2022) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In a remote small town, a neurodivergent teen forms an unlikely rapport with an international student from Shanghai volunteering at the hospital where they are a patient. Between the two, a bond forms, cemented by their candid conversations, nightly text messages, and exchange of their deepest secrets. The boundaries of their friendship quickly expand into something special, altering their inner alchemy. Queens of the Qing Dynasty is a queer story that breaches the absurd and poetic, the platonic and the romantic. Both intimate and intense, it explores the intrinsic beauty and innate flaws of what it is to be human, the profundity of connection, and the vortex of mental illness. The electronic music score blurs between cinema foley and sound design to create a feeling of an alternate plane. Queens of the Qing Dynasty is an affectionate ode to women, asexuals, and neurodiverse and genderqueer individuals who exist beyond the norms of society by writer and director Ashley McKenzie (Werewolf, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival).
Director
Ashley McKenzie
Producer
Ashley McKenzie, Britt Kerr, Nelson MacDonald
Screenwriter
Ashley McKenzie
Distributor
Factory 25
Production Co
Hi-Vis Film
Genre
Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 5, 2023, Limited
Runtime
2h 2m
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