The Daily Stream: Starf***ers Thrusts Queer Vengeance Through A Grand Surrealist Lens
(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Movie: "Starf***ers"
Where You Can Stream It: Mubi
The Pitch: A mere 15 minutes is all it takes to be wholly transported into the somewhat Lynchian and altogether entrancing, surrealist mind of queer filmmaker Antonio Marziale with this utterly transcendent short that was presented in competition at Sundance, Telluride, and Berlinale last year.
The film follows an escort (Cole Dolan) who visits with a Hollywood big-shot (Jonathan Slavin) that promised him stardom ... in time, and with some, ahem, favors in the mix. Things go a bit off the rails, however, when a familiar face (that of Marziale himself) unexpectedly joins in on the fun. Part thriller, part fever dream, all queer vengeance, this movie is a shock to the system with each minute more undeniably captivating than the last.
Why it's essential viewing
It's rare for an idea to feel so fully realized, and a concept to be so vulnerably explored, in such a short amount of time. The "Starf***ers" concept asks one major question: What do people who aren't murderers do for revenge? What does one do when the urge is too great to teach someone a lesson, but the victim refuses to fight violence with violence?
Most of the time, we see sexual abuse stories where the victim is consumed by what was done to them, and in turn, it empties them out into a husk of a person. It's very true to life to see them portrayed this way — but it's also just as true to life to assume that some of these people dream of their terrorizer getting their comeuppance. It's an age-old story, unfortunately, the one Dolan and Marziale craft in this short, but it has never been told this way, nor have these terrible atrocities they cite ever been confronted like this.
Reclaiming your strength
In this exciting and beguiling film, there is nothing more important, more of a scene-stealer, more powerful than reclaiming what's yours — your dignity and strength — while allowing yourself the emotional catharsis you deserve. Marziale is an absolute marvel in the way he explores this, textually, physically, and conceptually. He creates his own little Lynchian show to do so, and at first, it seems that there's no way it could be sensical, that it could be something that does anything more than give him and Dolan's character the platform they crave — one that was offered to them by this exec — and let them run wild with it.
But the sheer force and intelligence of the short two-man show Marziale's character creates for this moment is nothing short of extraordinary. The emotional wall inside him comes crashing down, and in that moment, he is the surrogate for every victim who has had their dreams crushed in the palm of someone taking it, and them, for granted. I am not nothing, I am human and I am here, and I am not a prize to be won. That central thesis of this film makes it what it is, and what it is is a 15-minute carefully choreographed avalanche. You will be impressed with the performances, with Marziale's infectious and bitingly grand script — oof, that ending monologue! — his direction, and even the lighting and cinematography. This little film is the real deal, and you'll find yourself hitting replay as the credits roll. I know I did.