Reem Morsi’s marvellous film Queen Tut has at its heart two struggles, which intermingle to give the movie its dramatic and emotional journey.
Drag performer and activist Malibu, played impeccably by trans actress Alexandra Billings, is fighting to save a Toronto LGBTQ+ historic bar and club – Mandy’s.
Troubled Egyptian teenage boy Nabil (Ryan Ali) is struggling with his growing awareness of gayness. He’s been forced to return to Canada after the death of his idolised mother, and finds himself in the repressive Coptic church community of which his divorced father is a pillar.
A chance meeting in the street with Malibu sparks something in the boy and a genuine if unlikely bond between the two develops. Nabil has one treasure from his mother – her notebook detailing a “dream dress” she wanted to make. And as we all know drag queens can sew.
A further complication is that Nabil’s father is a senior manager soon to become partner in the ruthless property developers who want to tear down Mandy’s.
Hanging out with Mandy’s drag kings and queens rather than praying at church, Nabil is conflicted to say the least. When he asks the priest to pray for his dead mother and meets a refusal, the die is cast.
We’re on a delightful journey as Malibu gently nurtures her sewing apprentice and his dream – and that of his late mother – look like being realised. And there’s a great moment when dragged up, Nabil proudly shows off the frock. But the demolition gang are waiting in the wings and can the queer community fight back?
Morsi gets under the skin of the world of queer performers and gay activism and shows the historical context of a modern-day fight.
Ryan Ali as the gentle, struggling, mixed-up teen is convincingly real and certainly he creates a loveable and warm character. Alexandra Billings, whose back story in real life concerned these very struggles, is stunning as the darkly humorous, worldly-wise and motherly Malibu, with a sharp tongue and a heart of gold. Her cabaret song I Won’t Break is the pivotal moment.
There are winners and losers in the end but the prevailing message is that the struggle for rights and for people to be who they wish to be must always prevail. And it does.
Queen Tut is available now on Amazon Prime and soon on Apple TV.
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