A group of drag queens incorrectly booked to perform at a biker bar in a remote town in Canada must battle against closed minds, homophobia… and vampires.
Over time, LGBTQ films have grown to be more accepted by mainstream audiences, and with that acceptance, we’re finally seeing underrepresented voices spread out into other genres aside from love stories and historical dramas. One such foray is Slay, a truly fun, humorous, action packed horror comedy that dumps every genre it touches upon into a blender full of glitter and eyeshadow and delivers the most LGBTQ forward entertaining rainbow smoothie anyone could ever hope to enjoy. It’s so gay it’ll hurt your eyes in all the right ways, it’s drowning in glitter and makeup, and if you think a drag show is fun, just wait until you watch Slay.
Written and directed by Jem Garrard, a queer non-binary filmmaker who brings their unique vision to life through glitter, glitz and the perfect level of gore, Slay is everything you could want from an LGBTQ representative film. Garrard has a stylized and powerful story to tell, and they work hard to tell it through a lens that’s both fun and adorable. With highly quotable lines, well rounded characters, and montages that feel as cheesy as they do inventive, Slay is an endearing slice of queer cinema that keeps you watching for what’s going to happen next, be it a big laugh or an action setpiece, and that all started with a wonderful script. Garrard distinguishes themselves from others with their original take on what would otherwise be a run of the mill vampire story, and by bringing in the drag element, you can say with full confidence that there’s nothing else out there like Slay.
But the best part of the movie is none other than the drag queens themselves, who embolden the words of the script with wild and vibrant personalities that steal every one of the scenes they’re in. RuPaul Drag Race stars Trinity the Tuck, Heidi N Closet and Crystal Methyd, and Cara Melle, work together with tangible friendships that feel relatable and real, and fabulously fierce fashion that’s to die for. The brightness of their progressive and loud characters are dichotomized by the humorously drab conservative biker types who make up the supporting cast, which is just one of the many layers that makes Slay work so well, even when it decides to go a little too far.
And when the vampires start rolling in, the spirited and lively characters take on action star levels of expertise with hilariously overdone stunts choreographed to perfection and savage scenes of fire and explosions. Every scene is drenched with a gorgeous color palette that’s as vibrant as the characters themselves, and with a score that’s as moving as it is goofy, Slay is a distinct and eccentrically quirky mashup of genres that works on every level. I want my own lipstick grenade!
A film that’s good to watch whether you’re drinking with friends or chilling on your own, Slay is enjoyable from start to finish, and it gives you plenty of “vampires in an isolated bar” vibes from a year before that other movie of a similar plotline.