What would happen if you took South Park and made it gay? Well Jim Queen, the latest animated film from French directing duo Marco Nguyen and Nicholas Athane, is a raunchy romp with an outrageous tongue in cheek sense of humour. It’s a fairly stock standard story that features some truly beautiful animation from Bobby Pillz (Lesbian Space Princess). While there will definitely be a section of the community that will hate this film, in the current climate of queer cinematic films that are horror and trauma based, it is nice to be able to take a breath and have a laugh.
The story follows gym-fluencer and white gay stereotype Jim Parfait (Alex Ramires), he has the perfect body, hair and millions of online followers. He has brand deals, lives at the gym and is wanted by everybody. Especially his biggest fan he has never met Lucien (Jeremy Gillet) a closeted son of an anti-queer politician who barely leaves the house. When Jim contracts the viral disease known as heterosis, after one of his twenty abs disappears, he risks movphine into a straight man, he goes on a journey to find the cure to the disease before he loses himself completely.
If oyu notice that this movie looks very familiar, it’s because the animation studio Bobby Pills animated last years Aussie film Lesbian Space Princess. The animation here is just as strong, with explosions of colour and much more intricately detailed scenes here, the studio have really delivered a visual feast. This is accompanied by a very strong script, the best way to describe this is like a very VERY gay South Park movie. Nothing is off limits here, every sub sector of the community from twinks to pups to drag queens to cruising spots and body obsessed gym twinks. No sub-sector of the community is safe here, and it is all done in that tongue in cheek, self-aware style of humour that you can’t help but laugh at, no matter how ridiculous it gets.
There are hilarious musicla sequences here, the intro song along sets the tone for the film, it’s almost a shame that it didn’t stick to the genre and offer a full musical experience here. There are a few other moments, Lucien does a tribute to Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid in a room full of adult toys and posters of Jim Queen, there are several call outs to Ru Paul’s Drag Race and a ton of pop.culture references in crazy situations that only an adult film can get away with poking fun at.
In a sold out session on a Friday night at the Melbourne International Film Festival, Jim Queen proved a hit, the consistent laughs and reactions from our audience told me everything I needed to know about how this film was landing. The film ended to rupturous applause and was the perfect way to finish the first week of MIFF.
If animated, gay South Park like films are your forte, you will find yourself having an absolute blast with Nguyen and Athane’s Jim Queen, a beautifully animated, raunchy, crazy yet sweet film that isn’t afraid to poke fun at the gay community and the many sub-sectors that exist within it. There could be something more to say and a few more layers here, however it is quickly glossed over with a couple of amusing musical numbers and an awareness that in an age of growing negativity against the queer community, it is ok to take a breather and have a laugh at our own expense.
Jim Queen is now showing as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival, you can book tickets here
