This had the potential of being a really good film but unfortunately falls flat because it doesn't know what kind of film it wants to be.
Had this been a comedy set in the US during the 2000s about a gay teen finding himself through drag it might have worked well enough to scrape a 7, as is. But it is a borderline 6 for me. For starters it is difficult to believe schools like this existed anywhere in Europe like this back in the 80s.
It wasn't awful I watched it to the end and there are some nice touching moments. Unfortunately, it doesn't develop any of the myriad themes it tries to include. The actors do work hard at it, to their credit.
A culture clash movie about an out and proud drag queen from the US in a conservative 80s school in Belgium would have made for a more interesting and ultimately satisfying film. The Belgian actors could have spoken mostly in Dutch/ Flemish or French even, depending on where it was supposed to be. The accented English dialogue distracts us from the narrative. Subtitles in this case would have been less of a distraction.
Equally, a teen romance movie about 2 boys coming together to face their bullies through music or drag would have worked very well too. It needn't have had to been a romance either to work. It subverts the usual trope of the out kid bringing the closeted kid into the light, I suppose but it just isn't believable.
A more recent film like Handsome Devil, proves that it could work. Returning to this film I don't understand the bullies motivations to behave the way they do and the inconsistent reactions their victims have.
There is enough drama going on with the football team without shoehorning the trauma at home too. I recently rewatched Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure first as a grown up and the Dads' are a class act in trying/failing to deal with their respective kids delinquency. The premise is totally idiotic but nothing feels implausible whilst watching it.
I'm not exactly a fan of Perks of Being a Wallflower but it established all the above themes using secondary gay characters in only a couple scenes. Unlike the Curiousity of Chance this was a very serious and sombre undertaking. They worked a lot better and were believable reactions from all the players.
Here we had a whole film fo develop something along those lines and I just think what a waste.
