Drive-Away Dolls stars on the need for more ‘joyous, raunchy and sexy’ queer films
Spoilers ahead. The stars of Drive-Away Dolls are welcoming a sillier era for queer storytelling. Written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, the bonkers lesbian comedy follows the “uninhibited free spirit” Jamie (Margaret Qualley) who, after cheating on her unhinged police officer girlfriend Sukie (Beanie Feldstein), embarks on a wild road trip to Tallahassee with her “demure” friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan).
Along the way, Jamie tries to convince Marian to let loose, sexually, by having no-strings-attached hook-ups at lesbian bars, while a group of incompetent criminals hunt them down to take back a mysterious suitcase located in the back of their car.
Although the film is set in 1999, it’s devoid of stereotypical and tired queer tropes, from prejudice and discrimination to death and despair (how refreshing!).
While those stories are arguably still important – It’s A Sin and Fellow Travelers, for example – Feldstein tells GAY TIMES that “we also need other movies that are fun and joyous and raunchy and sexy and playful”. “To say that the queer experience is just coming out or difficult or painful is so narrow,” she says. “For the three characters to be women and queer women at the centre of a Coen caper movie with Tricia Cooke adding her unique perspective and energy to it is really special, and I feel so lucky.” The actress, known for her Golden Globe-nominated role in the queer teen classic Booksmart (2019) and performance as Monica Lewinsky in American Crime Story: Impeachment (2021), lauded Qualley and Viswanathan for the – again, spoiler alert incoming! – love story between their characters. “It is so amazing and beautiful and funny,” she says.
