This film was definitely a ride.

When I saw that this film had been endorsed by The Secret Agent director Kleber Mendonça Filho, I knew I had to see this. Not only was it violent, but its lead character was a femme queen crime lord looking to sell drugs in the streets of Brazil. That blew my mind that there were characters like this in the 1970s. In a film climate that was becoming grittier and averse to exploring the lives of queer identities, The Devil Queen looked like nothing I’d ever seen before.

For me, I wasn’t sure.

The story kicks off when the titular Devil Queen, a crime boss named Diaba, finds out that one of her drug suppliers has been giving out weed to preppy high schoolers. Since this has likely tipped off the police, she decides to sell out another thief to stand in the thief’s place so they won’t go to prison. But when the rest of her gang learns about this, they rebel and start forming to take over her criminal enterprise.

There’s a lot of Shakespeare-level drama in this film. I haven’t read Shakespeare since my sophomore year of college when I read Othello, but one thing that Shakespeare was always on the money about was the sting of betrayal. This was always prurient when it came to portraying the high and mighty. You could go from being on top of the world in one moment to realizing you have nothing and no one in the next, all because a former friend turned their back and sold you out. While The Devil Queen does not concern dukes or kings, it does concern Diaba determined to hold onto her empire even as its foundation starts to crack. As a result, the film feels both melodramatic and gritty at the same time.

One important thing about betrayal is that it does not happen out of nowhere. While Diaba sits in her house all day with a razor knife and a gun in handy, her associates run amok in the city, running her operation with varied levels of efficiency. One of these associates, the young Bereco, is in a relationship with sex worker Isa, which is going about as well as you’d expect in a 1970s crime drama (it’s really bad). Bereco is desperate to prove himself as a leading figure in the crime world, desperate enough that he’s willing to ally with the hypermasculine Catitu to earn his place. In one scene, after throwing up after killing a man during a robbery, Bereco starts a fight with another drug dealer, with only Catitu willing to step in and diffuse the situation.

The gender dynamics of this film are one of the most interesting things about it. No one in this film is a character you’d root for, but the two main factions are operating on different hierarchies of gender. Diaba’s loyal ensemble are all gender-bending, sometimes even eschewing it altogether. Diaba proves she doesn’t need to wield a gun or a knife to be menacing–her mere presence in a room is enough already. Her reputation precedes her, and even though she might be more feminine at home, her security guards show she is not to be fucked with in the slightest. However, Catitu and Bereco are the epitome of toxic masculinity. Whether it’s using homophobic slurs to describe Diaba or treating Isa like a disposable object, dominance is their main language. They do have legitimate grievances against Diaba for taking them for granted, but when all they have is ambition, there isn’t anything that they aren’t willing to do. Diaba’s motivations are to hold on to the massive wealth she has. Catitu and Bereco are trying to get what they’ve only dreamed about.

As compelling as these themes are, there’s definitely a disconnect between the first half and the second half of the film. Brazilian commentators on Letterboxd have noted this film as a “Brazilian Pulp Fiction,” and I see that in the excessive gore, in the creative fashion choices, and in the gritty 70s setting. But as I was leaving the theater, I was struggling to put my finger on what the bigger themes were. There’s scenes in the first half of the film that don’t really get brought up again later, and while it’s necessary to set up the conflict and the character dynamics, I didn’t walk away from this one with any profound emotion in my chest. As a genre crime thriller, it works. Is that all you should ask from this film?

FURTHER THOUGHTS

• Isa’s green hair and outfit was amazing. I need that look ASAP.
• I love how there’s one Margaret Thatcher looking assistant working for Diaba despite Diaba being a femme queen. I would have loved to see Thatcher watch this film. Actually…no.
• I always find it interesting/disturbing that when Isa’s injured and in pain earlier in the film, the noises she makes (probably added in post) sound almost like she’s moaning in pleasure.