This gutsy musical
comedy about a wannabe drag
Queen teenager adheres firmly to the Britfilm plucky outsiders template
This big-hearted musical comedy started life on the stage in 2017 – and 10 years before that as a TV documentary about the true story of gay teenager Jamie Campbell, whose dream was to be a drag queen. The broad characterisation, dialogue and scene transitions probably worked better on stage, but they give a bounce to this feelgood Britfilm version, which has newcomer Max Harwood as Jamie, Sarah Lancashire as his tenderly understanding mum Margaret, and Lauren Patel as his best mate Priti; Sharon Horgan has the thankless task of playing the uptight teacher who won’t let Jamie turn up to the school prom in drag, while Richard E Grant has a scene-stealer as Hugo Battersby, AKA “Loco Chanel”, a veteran drag queen artiste who campaigned against homophobia in the 1980s and who mentors Jamie in his new vocation.