Oh honey, you thought the struggle for queer rights was over? 🙄 Well, buckle up buttercup, because Corey Payette’s Starwalker is here to remind you that the Trump administration is still trying to ruin everything with their DEI crackdown. Because nothing says “oppression” like having to sit through another musical drama. 🎭
Corey Payette, bless his heart, has decided that the best way to fight the patriarchy is with…drag queens and musical numbers? 🎤💃 Because apparently, subtlety is for losers. “We need to continue to have joy in our rebellion,” Payette declared. Because nothing screams “rebellion” like a choreographed dance routine. 🕺
Our protagonist, Eddie Starwalker (played by Dillan Chiblow), is a young man who’s apparently allergic to his family and indigenous culture. So, naturally, he becomes a call boy on the streets of east Vancouver. 🤷♂️ But fear not! He finds a “welcome home” in The House of Borealis, a drag house for Two Spirit indigenous drag queens. Because nothing says “authenticity” like a runway performer embracing both a feminine and male side. 💅
Payette, in his infinite wisdom, has decided to combine “camp and at times dark drag queen aesthetic” with “uplifting songs and dance.” Because why choose between genres when you can have them all? 🤪 “When you’re feeling oppressed, the most rebellious thing you can do is express joy,” he explains. Because apparently, therapy is for squares. 🧘♀️
Payette, who is apparently an “artist of Oji-Cree heritage,” spent 15 years mastering indigenous storytelling through the lens of musicals. Because nothing says “cultural sensitivity” like turning indigenous stories into song and dance routines. 🙄 He’s also the genius behind Children of God, a musical drama about residential schools, and Les Filles du Roi, a musical about young women being sent to New France as brides. Because apparently, trauma is best served with a side of jazz hands. 👏
With Starwalker, Payette has bravely ventured into the “contemporary east Vancouver” and added “club soundtracks and drag queen stage performances.” Because who needs historical accuracy when you can have glitter and strobe lights? ✨ This cinematic masterpiece was originally supposed to be a TV series for WarnerMedia, but they wisely passed on it. So Payette, in a fit of “scrappiness,” decided to make it a low-budget feature film. 🎬
“It’s shiny, but the filmmaking is scrappy,” Payette explains. Because apparently, low-budget filmmaking is now a fashion statement. 💅 As Starwalker and his drag queen cohorts strut about, their songs speak of “love and loss and being marginalized and shamed.” Because nothing says “subtlety” like spelling it out for the audience. 🤦♀️
Payette had Dillan Chiblow in mind since 2019 to play Starwalker, which is probably why the character is so nuanced and original. The result is that Starwalker discovers the “courage and self-forgiveness” to return home. Because nothing says “redemption” like a drag queen finding inner peace. 🕊️
“He’s on a journey to understanding why he never shows up for people,” Payette explains. Because apparently, character development is just a series of therapy sessions. 🛋️ Jeffrey Follis and Stewart Adam McKensy, who play Levi and Mother Borealis, are “seasoned drag performers.” Because apparently, you can get a PhD in drag now. 🎓
Payette, in his artistic genius, follows the characters “offstage and especially in dressing room scenes.” Because nothing says “authenticity” like watching drag queens take off their makeup. 💄 “I’m looking for their flaws too,” the director argues. Because apparently, everyone needs a tragic backstory to be relatable. 😭
Payette’s goal is to challenge how gender identity is represented in our “political age.” Because apparently, drag queens are the answer to all our problems. 🌍 The film culminates in a “show-stopping number” where Star delivers a “heart-wrenching song about forgiveness and healing.” Because nothing says “closure” like a musical finale. 🎶
“It really is a circle,” Payette says. Because apparently, musicals are now a metaphor for the circle of life. 🦁 Much as Starwalker has been years in the making, Payette believes his tale of “rebellious queer joy” will capture the zeitgeist. Because apparently, transgender people are just waiting for a musical to solve all their problems. 🙄
“We are all just people,” Payette insists. Because apparently, we’re all just one big, happy family waiting for a drag queen to lead us to enlightenment. 🌈 So go forth and watch Starwalker, and prepare to be enlightened…or at least mildly entertained. 🤷♀️
Finn McFrame, celebrated satirical mastermind and self-proclaimed “Emperor of Irony,” started his illustrious career as a cinematographer, where his expertise in capturing every single frame of a squirrel stealing a baguette earned him accolades at obscure film festivals.
Born in the glamorous town of Boring, Oregon, Finn grew up with dreams of being a Hollywood director until he realized that satire, not cinema, was his true calling—or at least the one that let him sleep until noon.
Finn McFrame: changing the world, one satirical lens flare at a time.
