The flâneur faggot and the city of the future: queer utopia in “The Cult”

Abstract

Over the past few years, Brazilian cinema has produced a great number of works reflecting discussions about different urban issues, such as gentrification, real estate speculation, and public space occupation. The present article sets out to analyze the feature film The Cult (2015) from Pernambuco (in the Northeastern region of Brazil) so as to discuss how queer theory could contribute to the debate about political usage of public space in the Brazilian context. By using analyses from different queer theorists, especially those from the Global South, regarding the relationship between sexuality and the city, we seek to investigate the film through the lens of a wide range of debates in the city of Recife, about the struggle for the right to the city. Articulating concepts such as “perverse flâneur” by Paul Preciado (2017), “queer utopia” by José Esteban Muñoz (2019) and “queer space” by Bobby Benedicto (2013), we aim to discuss how the film’s discourse, via scientific fiction, envisions not only a new possible city, but also another possible future for queer subjects who live in the Global South.