Queens of the Qing Dynasty is an endearing, offbeat treat, at VIFF Centre starting March 17

Deadpan, dreamlike magic from one of Canada’s most exciting new voices in film

An (Ziyin Zheng) and Star (Sarah Walker) in *Queens of the Qing Dynasty*.

Queens of the Qing Dynasty is at VIFF Centre March 17 to 25

CAPE BRETON AUTEUR Ashley McKenzie has handed in a wonderfully weird and disorienting followup to her debut Werewolf—which was the story of two meth addicts wandering Nova Scotia that wowed critics in 2016.

The two protagonists here are unabashedly unconventional: neurodivergent Star (Sarah Walker) is recovering from a suicide attempt and An (Ziyin Zheng) is the genderfluid Chinese-immigrant hospital volunteer assigned to look after her as she recovers.

They couldn’t be more different: Star is blunt, stoic, and monotone; An is a graceful butterfly who practices delicate Chinese-dance finger articulations and dreams of being “a trophy wife”.

But they form an instant, often wordless, bond as lonely outsiders who don’t quite fit into this universe. Or as Star puts it in her plainspeak: “We have good chemistry….We’re mixing chemicals. I can feel it.”

McKenzie’s striking visual world suits the fairy-tale imaginations of its protagonists, whether that’s with rich-scarlet-walled Chinese restaurants, with closeups of hospital Jell-O, or with shots of the cold and snowy world just outside the anonymous brick hospital where they’re stuck. McKenzie creates a deadpan, dreamlike magic: watch the strange wonder the writer-director can build out of a simple scene with a zucchini.

A brain-bustingly glitchy electronic score adds to the bewildering feeling that you’ve entered a different dimension where these two characters connect.

Don't expect rapid-fire repartee or action sequences here: McKenzie likes to spend long, weird, and often wordless stretches with these strange, but ultimately deeply sympathetic and endearing characters. You'll get drawn into their alternate universe—and that of an exciting new voice in Canadian alt-cinema.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is a Webster Award–winning arts journalist who has spent more than three decades immersed in Vancouver’s performing arts, film, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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