‘Queen at Sea’ movie review: a formless and relentlessly bleak stirring of the pot
*Queen at Sea* centres on Amanda, played by Juliette Binoche, who calls the police after finding her mother, who has severe dementia, having sex with her stepfather. The film explores the fraught question of intimacy and consent when someone has cognitive impairment, but the review argues that its bleak, provocative approach raises difficult issues without giving them enough context or depth.
The review praises Binoche’s sincere performance and Florence Hunt’s work as Amanda’s teenage daughter, Sara, whose story considers independence and sexuality. It criticises the thin characterisation, the limited exploration of care and consent, and a plot that shifts towards sympathy for Martin after Leslie’s health worsens. The result, it says, is a relentlessly bleak drama whose ambitions are undermined by its lack of substance.
In short
- Amanda calls the police after witnessing her mother with her stepfather.
- The film raises questions about consent and dementia.
- The review finds its bleakness more provocative than insightful.
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The case for
The film’s defenders could argue that its bleakness and unresolved tensions reflect the painful ambiguity of intimacy and consent when dementia affects someone’s ability to communicate or make decisions. By showing Amanda’s alarm alongside Martin’s relationship with Leslie, and Sara’s own search for independence, the film may prompt viewers to confront questions that a tidier story would evade.
The case against
Critics could argue that a subject this sensitive needs careful attention to the person with dementia, the realities of care and the basis for judging consent. If the story offers little context and shifts towards sympathy for Martin as Leslie’s health worsens, its ambiguity may feel less like complexity than an underdeveloped treatment of the people most affected.
Explained simply
Dementia can affect memory, judgement and a person’s ability to understand or communicate decisions. This can make questions about intimacy and consent difficult, especially when family members disagree about what a person wants and how best to protect them.
In the film, Amanda is the daughter of a woman with severe dementia, while Martin is her stepfather and the woman’s partner. Amanda’s teenage daughter, Sara, also has a part in the story, bringing questions of young people’s independence and sexuality into the family’s wider tensions.