Lance Hammer’s *Queen at Sea* is a deeply distressing drama about dementia, intimacy and the moral dilemmas facing families when a spouse-carer and patient are both vulnerable. The film centres on Amanda, who calls the police after finding her stepfather Martin having sex with her mother Leslie, whose dementia has raised doubts about her ability to consent.

Juliette Binoche, Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall deliver powerful performances as the situation escalates into police involvement, separation and pressure for Leslie to enter a care home. The film refuses simple judgements about abuse, love, consent or institutional care, instead portraying each decision as painful, ambiguous and potentially irreversible.