JIM QUEEN: the queer animated comedy that turns straightness into… a virus

Premiering in a midnight screening at the Cannes Film Festival, JIM QUEEN is already shaping up to be one of the most anticipated queer films of the year. This animated comedy dives head‑first into LGBTQIA+ realities – especially gay male communities – with a mix of sharp humour and tenderness, tackling nightlife, party culture, HIV, living with HIV, family acceptance and the power of chosen family.

To celebrate its Belgian release in cinemas on 24 June, JIM QUEEN will have a special avant‑première in Brussels on 19 June at cinema GALERIES, in the presence of the directors and Brussels‑based community organisations.

When heterosexuality becomes… an infection

Jim is a sexy, untouchable icon of the Paris gay scene: nightlife royalty, sculpted body, magnetic charisma and countless followers. Until everything crashes. He contracts Heterosis – a strange virus that turns gay men into heterosexuals. Overnight, his world collapses: the community turns its back on him, his status evaporates, and his place in gay culture crumbles.

The only one who doesn’t walk away is Lucien, Jim’s last follower – and first real fan – a young man who is still struggling to accept himself. Together, they embark on a wild quest to find a mysterious cure, save Jim, and stop the complete extinction of homosexuality.

By turning heterosexuality into the “disease” to be feared, JIM QUEEN flips the script on how queer people have historically been pathologised. The film uses satire and absurdity to expose stigma, shifting the “problem” onto the norm itself and opening space for a very queer kind of revenge fantasy.

Sex, nightlife, HIV, family: talking honestly through comedy

Behind its outrageous premise, JIM QUEEN speaks to very real issues for queer and especially gay male communities:

• the codes, freedoms and traps of the nightlife scene
• different ways of consuming and partying in gay spaces
• HIV and living with HIV, treated with nuance rather than tragedy or moral panic
• coming out and family reactions, between rejection, silence and slow reconciliation
• the care and kindness of friends – that queer chosen family that catches you when everything else collapses

Because the creators are themselves part of the community, the film leans into self‑mockery without punching down. The tone is unapologetically queer, mixing punchlines and camp excess with moments of vulnerability and emotional truth.

A very queer avant‑première at GALERIES

Before its Belgian release on 24 June, JIM QUEEN will be shown in a special avant‑première in Brussels on 19 June at cinema GALERIES. For this occasion, the directors will be present, together with actors from the local associative and community sector, to connect the film with current LGBTQIA+ realities: sexual health, HIV today, representations of gay men on screen, and how humour can be a tool for survival.

The event promises to be a proper community moment: watching a queer film with a queer crowd in the heart of the city, and having the opportunity to talk, react and process it together afterwards. Keep an eye on KET’s platforms – you might just get the chance to win tickets.

Trailer

While you wait to see it on the big screen, you can already watch the trailer for JIM QUEEN:

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