Arriving in theaters on October 24, 2025, via IFC Films and Shudder, Queens of the Dead has been in the works for a while. In fact, Director Tina Romero mentioned it to Cryptic Rock Magazine way back in 2019, where her goal was to “have all the Romero hallmarks: farce, politics, heroes, assholes, and most importantly – herds of silly and slow-moving walkers that you can’t help but love.” Only it would be in her style rather than that of her father, zombie movie legend, George Romero.
That is because it is a fusion of her two worlds —the undead and queer nightlife —since the title does not refer to royalty. Not the kind that live in palaces and appear on British stamps anyway. Written by Romero and Erin Judge (Live at Gotham series, Quiet Desperation series), the story follows Dre (Katy O’Brian: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 2023, Love Lies Bleeding 2024) as she tries to keep her club’s live acts going. Her wife, Lizzy (Rikki Lindhome: The Last House on the Left 2009, Knives Out 2019), helps by sending her coworker, Sam (Jaquel Spivey: Mean Girls 2024), back on stage as his drag persona. But after he fled the scene years ago, he and Dre still have a few unresolved issues.
Issues that get interrupted by zombies! Clubbers, partygoers, drag queens, and more join the hordes of the undead plaguing Manhattan, and Dre, Sam, and the other club members are caught in the middle of it. Their only hope is to find a way out to a neighboring borough. But that is easier said than done. Will they make it out alive, or will they also end up becoming the un-life of the party?
More importantly, did it succeed in delivering what Tina Romero was aiming for? Some zombie movie fans might balk at a ‘Dead’ film being a gay, tongue-in-cheek romp. For a while, it does start with a bang, but it spends a good chunk of time setting up its colorful cast of characters. All but one or two characters represent at least one letter in the LGBTQ+ community, and the exceptions are not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer (“Straight people are so cringe”).
Others might find it a breath of fresh air to have a zombie flick that is so openly queer, and with such a colorful cast, too. The dialogue and performances are arguably the movie’s best draw, as it is a very quotable flick. Everyone gets a good quip here and there, whether it is at another’s expense or their own. Niko (Tomas Matos: Fire Island 2022, Space Cadet 2024) and Ginsey (Nina West: RuPaul’s Drag Race series, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story 2022) are standouts in that they get the lion’s share of the funny lines, like Niko spoofing 1979’s Alien with a particular phone app.
Yet Queens of the Dead does a solid job of balancing out the yuks with genuine drama for the most part. Spivey puts in an especially touching performance as an ex-drag queen suffering a crisis of confidence, working exceptionally well with West as the encouraging angel on his shoulder, and O’Brian as the wronged party. O’Brian does a great job herself as the movie’s straight woman (for want of a better term as her character is a lesbian), helping to keep everyone grounded.
They offer the farce and heroes, and there are a few assholes here and there (notably a neat cameo from one of Tina’s dad’s old coworkers). But politics? That is present too, usually in the form of Jane (Eve Lindley: All We Had 2016, Bros 2022), a trans hospital patient that Lizzie looks after, who does not mince words about the plight of trans women. Though their scenes are few and far between compared to, say, West and Matos sticking up for NBs and drag artistes when one potential savior seems to limit their rescue to women and femmes only.
Those are not the only pieces of social commentary on offer. Just as George Romero compared zombies to mindless mall shoppers in 1978’s Dawn of the Dead, Tina Romero’s zombies mindlessly follow whatever’s on their smartphones, and shuffle to club tunes when they are not feeding. They are classic Romero-style zombies, with undead makeup and blood effects, so old-school fans will be happy to see them return. Though, does that make them lovable? Suppose there are worse things to be in the movie, like Instagram influencers or YouTube pranksters.
Still, while Queens of the Dead is not on a shoestring budget, its production was not exactly swimming in money. The soundtrack occasionally overpowers the dialogue, and the exterior nighttime shots often look like sets rather than interior scenes. That said, the practical effects are decent, complete with crisp visuals, and tense action scenes that are a mix of Horror-style shocks and fun a la 2004’s Shaun of the Dead. They start pretty scrappy but get neater as the movie goes on.
Overall, Queens of the Dead features engaging characters on both the comedic and dramatic sides, with plenty of quotable quips. The action improves as it progresses, and the movie maintains a brisk yet steady pace. It is not a perfect film, but it is a good one and a fun watch with plenty of bite. As such, Cryptic Rock gives Queens of the Dead 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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