Elisabeth Moss’ performance was arguably the highlight of Alex Ross Perry’s claustrophobic literary satire, Listen Up Philip, and with Queen of Earth — whose first (international) trailer was just released — it’s exciting to see the stunningly compatible actor/director duo re-teaming (and for a film centered around Moss’ character.)
Though she’s already shown her range as a hardened detective character in Top of the Lake, doppelgaanger-opposites in The One I Love and, of course, a rising advertising star in a (mad) male-dominated world, Queen of Earth gives her the chance to try on a new disguise: batshit.
The trailer below features clips of the same close-up shot, in which Moss confronts someone with terrifyingly focused slowness, accusing whomever she’s speaking to (herself? her friend? other Emmy nominees?) of being an “unrepentant piece of shit.” This is all intercut with footage of her at a lake house with her best friend (played by Katherine Waterston), sinking into insanity. The film, which also stars Patrick Fugit and mumblecore director Kentucker Audley, will be out in limited release on August 25.
Here’s the official synopsis (via /Film):
Catherine has entered a particularly dark period in her life: her father, a famous artist whose affairs she managed, has recently died, and on the heels of his death she’s dumped by her boyfriend James. Looking to recuperate, Catherine heads out to her best friend Virginia’s lake house for some much needed relaxation. However, once Catherine arrives relaxation proves impossible to find, as she is overcome with memories of time spent at the same house with James the year before. As Catherine reaches out to Virginia with attempts at connection, Virginia begins spending increasing amounts of time with a local love interest, Rich, and fissures in the relationship between the two women begin to appear, sending Catherine into a downward spiral of delusion and madness. A bracing, eerie look at the deep bonds of friendship and the horrific effects of such bonds being frayed, “Queen of Earth” is a thrilling examination of a deeply complex relationship between two miserable women.
Watch the trailer: