As "Queenmaker" (2023 release; 93 min) opens, we get an It Girl 101 mini-history lesson, which inevitably leads up to Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. Along the way, we learn that publicists have a great deal of power, as well as the inevitable blods that start popping up,,, At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.
Couple of comments: first, please do not confuse this with the South Korean TV series of the same name that appeared on Netflix not long ago. Second, this US documentary is directed by multimedia artist Zackary Drucker. Third, and this is the most important comment: this documentary is really two-films-into-one: the first one last a good one-third of the documentary, and gives a straight up overview of the New York It Girl universe and all that it entails; the second one runs the remainder of the film and examines who the creator was behind the influential NY It Girl blog called Park Avenue Peerage. The New York Times then drops the bomb when it identifies the person behind the blog. I won't say another word. Just watch. How these two separate movies are stuck into one is a bit of a headscratcher to be honest. I literally was about to abandon the film altogether as I was not interested in the It Girl scene. Turns out the movie is about some else altogether. Which brings me to my last, but not least, comments: the title of the documentary, as shown in the film's opening credits, is "Queenmaker", nothing more, nothing less. It's not "Queenmaker: The Making of an It Girl", as noted here on IMDb and many other sites. This is really annoying. Like we need to be explained what the movie title REALLY means. We are not dumb. We can figure it out. (This also happened with the recent Michael J Fox documentary, which is titled per the movie's opening and closing credits "STILL", but for whatever reason, the movie is now known everywhere as "Still: A Michael J Fox Movie". Stop it already, and show some respect for the moviemakers decision on the actual movie title.)
"Queenmaker" started airing on Hulu recently. I had read a positive review of it in the New York Times last week, and that was enough for me to want to check it out. If you are in the mood for a documentary that takes an unexpected turn left, and then keeps going even more off road, I'd suggest you check it out and draw your own conclusion.
