Movie Review: Claire Denis in Genre Defying Form in 'Stars at Noon'

Stars at Noon (2022)

Directed by Claire Denis

Written by Claire Denis, Lea Mysius, Andrew Litvack

Starring Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Benny Safdie

Release Date October 14th, 2022

Published December 20th, 2022

In the hands of any other director, Stars at Noon would be a taut, fraught, political-spy thriller filled with car chases, action, and excitement. In the hands of Claire Denis however, Stars at Noon is languid, sexy, dripping with sweat, and far from anything you would expect from spy thriller. The film stars Margaret Qualley as a wannabe journalist caught up in the political unrest of Central America. Joe Alwyn co-stars as the ostensible spy in this spy story, an Englishman caught between American and Central American interests.

The film begins with our protagonist referred to only as Journalist. We eventually hear her called Ms. Johnson but that's merely an indication of Denis' disinterest such mundane matters as peoples names. Identity is less important than getting to what is more interesting to Claire Denis, the politics of sex, the sexual marketplace, and the place her female characters occupy in that odd marketplace. In this case, Qualley's journalist has been placed in a unique position.

After having written an article critical of the regime in charge, the Journalist has had her passport taken away and her journalistic credentials revoked. This places her at the whim of men who might be able to help her in exchange for her body. That's the case with a local military official who took her passport and broke her phone and still demands sex from her. That would be the case for another high ranking official were he not impotent. He was a help friend to have, initially, but he also made her exchange her valuable American dollars for the local currency, a move almost guaranteed to strand her.

The journalist's relationship to the English spy also begins in a transactional fashion. The pair meet at a hotel bar. The spy mistakes the journalist for a sex worker and, being desperate for American currency, she doesn't disabuse him of this notion. She needs money to try and get back to the United States, a task that gets ever more difficult as the story progresses. The hook up with the spy initially seems like a one off but when she finds herself in even deeper trouble she seeks him out again only to find that he may be in even more trouble than she is.

My telling of the plot is actually more concise than Denis' presentation. For Denis, the book on which this script is based is a hanger from which she can explore other ideas, visual and sexual ideas, power dynamics, and other things that capture her fleeting interests. Yes, there is ostensibly a thriller plot unfolding with our protagonists attempting to flee from the corrupt elements of government attempting to arrest the spy, but that's in the background, it's merely a hanger for what Denis is really interested in.

Denis has little interest in the thrills and action of a suspense thriller and a great deal more interest in sex. As the journalist and the spy grow closer they spend a lot of time getting naked. Even while on the run, with lives on the line, they make time for sex in their van, hotels, and anywhere else that strikes their fancy. These being two ungodly beautiful movie stars, you can't blame Denis for luxuriating in their beauty. I could not help but admire Denis' complete lack of interest in anything other than the sex.

It's not merely a prurient interest, the sex is revealing in more ways than one. The heat between Qualley and Alwyn is palpable but these two wonderful actors also weave an emotional bond into the story. It's compromised somewhat by the extreme circumstances they find themselves in but when one says I love you, you do get the sense of genuine feelings along side a very particular desperation not to be left alone in this unfolding quagmire. This informs an emotional ending as well, one that hits harder than I thought it would given the slack pacing throughout and the only passing attention to plot.

Stars at Noon is not going to be to all tastes. The movie takes its time getting anywhere, the thriller portion of the plot purely exists as a spine for the more interesting sexual and emotional landscape that Denis is building, and I can see where some might find the ending not to their taste as it doesn't fit with the conventions of Hollywood romance or thriller culture. That said, I loved the unconventional approach to a thriller dynamic. I loved the body heat, the sexual intensity, and the sweaty sensuality of Stars at Noon. If you are up for something unlike most other thrillers, perhaps you might enjoy Stars at Noon as much as I did.

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