Queen at Sea (dir. Lance Hammer)

by Jack Martin | Sep 21, 2026

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 121 mins

UK Distributor: Curzon

UK Release Date: 18 September 2026

WHO’S IN QUEEN AT SEA?

Juliette Binoche, Tom Courtenay, Anna Calder-Marshall, Florence Hunt, Cody Molko, Steven Cree, Michelle Jeram, Marie-Elle Vooijs, Jean Pemberton, Liani Samuel, Lolabelle Backus, Noah Hunt Basden, Yasmin Campbell, Joe Horsford, Alison Pargeter, Elizabeth Rushbrook, Mohammad Amiri, Michelle Kelly

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Lance Hammer (director, writer, producer, editor), Tristan Goligher (producer), Adolpho Veloso (cinematographer)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A university professor (Binoche) experiences a severe moral dilemma with her aging parents (Courtenay and Calder-Marshall)…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON QUEEN AT SEA?

In the eighteen years spent between his directorial debut Ballast and his sophomore feature Queen at Sea, filmmaker (and former art designer on the likes of Joel Schumacher’s Batman movies) Lance Hammer has largely focused on his career as an academic professor, presumably passing on his wisdom to an all-new generation of creatives. It is therefore curious that he chooses to return now from the world of academia with a devastating filmic story of old age and caregiving that honestly never needed to take almost two decades to make, since the moral questions it raises as well as some of its most shocking themes of consent and mental stability would still have been just as profound in 2010 than they are in 2026.

The film is definitely the product of an academic mind, one who takes a studious approach to the core concept of their script and takes as many opportunities as possible to spell out how their topics are far from black-and-white issues. But while the film is effective in its daring and even provocative subject matter, and especially in its exceptional performances, it is a bit of a slog to get through, thanks to an execution that focuses too hard on the grave nature of its admittedly dour themes to really make it a wholly satisfying product.

The film, set in the suburbs of London, begins with academic professor Amanda (Juliette Binoche) unexpectedly walking in on her elderly mother Leslie (Anna Calder-Marshall) being penetrated by her husband and Amanda’s step-father Martin (Tom Courtenay). In most normal situations, this would be an embarrassing encounter that would quickly be laughed off by all involved, but this is not a normal situation: Leslie has advanced dementia and is therefore not of sound mind to give explicit sexual consent. Moreover, this is not the first time this has happened, as Martin has repeatedly done the deed with his wife in full knowledge of her deteriorating mental condition, and has no intention of stopping what he sees as normal coitus with his married partner, whom he even claims is the one who instigates the intimacy.

This is when Amanda decides to get the authorities involved, triggering an increasingly uncomfortable series of events as the inseparable elderly couple struggles to stay apart, even under the strict orders of both Amanda and the law. Amanda, meanwhile, also has teenage daughter Sara (Florence Hunt) to worry about, especially as she strikes up a growing relationship with local boy James (Cody Molko) whilst their own primal urges are beginning to surface. Thus, you can imagine how thin the tightrope is for Amanda as she carefully navigates the tricky situation with her parents as well as contend with Sara’s own blossoming desires.

Hammer’s script is filled with thought-provoking debates about what counts as true love at a point in life when the people we originally fell for may no longer exist. Throughout, these four central characters wrestle with feelings of denial, ignorance, curiosity and even betrayal as the worldviews which they’ve clung onto for years are challenged, sometimes to humiliating degrees, but at no point does it ever seem as though love itself has departed the scene. Even though Martin is guilty of essentially taking advantage of his own wife, it’s never out of malice or any kind of bad intentions; as misguided as his methods may be, he is simply trying to preserve the love that he shares with Leslie as she enters a stage in her dementia where she’s beginning to become unrecognisable to everyone around her. The filmmaker handles it with a steady – perhaps too much so – approach that allows the unspoken thoughts to come through, while also letting the situation breathe with as much delicacy and care as anyone would around such sensitive topics.

But Hammer isn’t quite able to withstand the weight of his subject matter, as his film buckles significantly under the pressure of its own runtime. At just over two hours long, Queen at Sea is at least ten or fifteen minutes longer than it needs to be, with early scenes showing the inciting incident unfold in such a precise manner – with nearly every procedure up to and including the distressing gynaecological exam on the assault victim being shown in all their uncomfortable glory – that after a short while you start to wonder if this is what the entirety of the film is going to be. Not long after, it settles into being a Mike Leigh-ified remake of Michael Haneke’s Amour, complete with harrowing scenes of senile behaviour, including a rather disturbing care home encounter, and a bleak, borderline hopeless tone that Haneke’s film was overall better at conveying. There’s also the matter of the subplot involving young Sara and her love interest, which seriously could have been exorcised from the film as a whole with very little about it changing significantly.

At least the performances are exemplary enough to keep everything afloat. All the actors, particularly the outstanding pair of Courtenay and Calder-Marshall, do a wonderful job with the material, transforming it into a heart-wrenching showcase of emotion that gives their characters a crucial extra dose of humanity. Certain scenes even feel as though Hammer just let the camera roll on them doing whatever it is they enjoy doing, whether it’s eating breakfast or coming up with new TikTok dances, resulting in a lot more naturality rather than simply feeling as scripted as they are.

To be honest, Queen at Sea works better as an actor’s showcase than a whole feature, for the film doesn’t quite come together in its execution of such dour topics, as valiant as it may be in doing so.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Queen at Sea tackles some difficult and compelling topics in a debate-heavy script by filmmaker Lance Hammer, who also gets some excellent performances out of his core cast, but both the sluggish pace and consistently dour tone prevent the film from firmly standing underneath the weight of its own subject matter.