A huge hit in the latest festival circuit, Chrissy Judy wins over audiences with its witty characters and electric black-and-white cinematography. The powerful performances of writer/director Todd Flaherty as Judy, and his onscreen counterpart Chrissy (Wyatt Fenner) aggrandize any limitations faced by the small budget and crew that brought this film to life.
The film centers around Judy, a 30-year-old New York drag performer, and the phasing friendship with his performance partner Chrissy. Tackled by a dialogue-driven narrative, the messy boundaries of Chrissy and Judy’s queer love are explored as the pair grapple with living in separate cities for the first time. Their closeness is emphasized by the film’s lack of an “and” in the title. The characters are so inseparable that it’s not Chrissy and Judy, it’s Chrissy Judy.
Peaking into their technically platonic relationship before the news of Chrissy’s move drives a wedge between them, their reliance on one another for love and acceptance is evident. “If you were the only person left on earth with me, I would be fine with that,” Judy says before asking Chrissy for a kiss. They dance together ignoring other men pawing for their attention.
Many reviewers have drawn comparisons between Chrissy Judy and another black-and-white New York buddy film Frances Ha (2012). But to conflate the two films limits the scope of queer affection represented in either. Frances Ha, a great film in its own right, is not explicitly queer and explores feminine codependency and loneliness. While Chrissy Judy incorporates queer identities into the central relationship, as well as using drag performance and gender expression as a plot device.
If any comparison should be made, Chrissy Judy is more akin to Frances Ha’s predecessor, Girlfriends (1978), which follows a New York photographer’s struggle with jealousy as her formerly codependent friend’s new stable life with a male partner. In both Chrissy Judy and Girlfriends, art is used as the main character’s tool for self-expression as they wrestle with who they are, and what they mean to the world and to the person they love the most.
The art of drag, which is showcased authentically in Chrissy Judy, is often a misunderstood art form. Especially in today’s divisive climate, art that incorporates the body as a canvas becomes politicized. But drag is about more than just being a contrarian, drag is a deeply humanistic expression of gender performance. It cherishes, celebrates, and pokes fun at our rituals to attain beauty. Drag makes a spectacle out of the desire to be seen, making it the perfect vehicle for the story Chrissy Judy has to share about queer partnership and the thirst for a successful life in the spotlight.
In the film, the distance and the addition of Chrissy’s boyfriend lead to a tense reunion, Judy asks Chrissy, “Are you happier here?” Chrissy replies, “I never thought I would leave in the first place.” Revealing the struggle of creating new identities apart is a mutual experience for not only Judy but Chrissy as well. It clicks that they are each lying about how great the change is, Judy fills the hole Chrissy left in his life by floating between bad gigs and worse hookups; Chrissy pretends all he needs is one stable lover, but the cracks still show.
Chrissy Judy is a coming-of-age film that never really graduates to an answer. It ends with the question, “What will I do?” and the sound of waves coming and going from the shore. Perhaps that abstract conclusion to a realistic film is an answer in itself; the people in our life come and go like the tide. Highly Recommended.