Ask everyone who sees Queer for a basic plot summary, and you won’t hear many mentions of Judaism, the Holocaust, nor 2001: A Space Odyssey.

And yet, this new movie seems to bear faint traces of through-lines for each.

The opening credits end with the first page of William S. Burroughs’ original transcript, and it’s clearly visible that he added “Jewish” to the introductory sentence, as a way of describing the boy sitting across from Daniel Craig as the movie begins, and his Star of David necklace plays a prominent role in their initial discussion (necklaces reoccur throughout the movie). 

Minutes later, Jason Schwartzman’s first line of dialogue is an offhand accusation that his fellow bar-backs could be Nazis; given the location of this watering hole, it seems relevant that he’s near where Nazis fled after World War Two.

And this Semitic strand culminates in the concentration-camp drug-trip midway through the movie.

As for 2001: A Space Odyssey, homages litter Queer’s third act. When Daniel Craig tosses the psychedelic log in the air, it’s shot exactly like the iconic “monkey bone —> spaceship” cut that segues 2001 from the prehistoric to the futuristic.

A few scenes later, Craig floats up into space in a sequence shot exactly like 2001’s iconic floating spaceman.

And Queer’s final scene parallels 2001’s — guess the adjective — iconic conclusion.

What gives?