When Music Becomes a Weapon Against Silence

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MOVIE REVIEW
Starwalker
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Genre: Musical, Drama, Romance, Queer Cinema
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 56m
Director(s): Corey Payette
Writer(s): Corey Payette
Cast: Dillan Chiblow, Jeffrey Michael Follis, Stewart Adam McKensy, Jason Sakaki, Connor Parnall, Jennifer Lines
Where to Watch: shown at the 2025 Vancouver Queer Film Festival

RAVING REVIEW: With STARWALKER, Corey Payette attempts something rarely seen in contemporary cinema: a fully staged, unabashedly queer musical that blends Indigenous storytelling, drag spectacle, and intimate drama. For Payette—already a respected Anishinaabe composer and playwright—this is both a continuation and an expansion of his mission to reimagine musicals as more than escapist entertainment. STARWALKER pushes forward into the present, marrying drag performance with the cultural grounding of a Two-Spirit identity. The result is messy at times, dazzling at others, but always bold.

The story follows Star (Dillan Chiblow), a Two-Spirit call boy in East Vancouver, who drifts through life until he discovers The House of Borealis, a drag collective led by the enigmatic Mother Borealis (Stewart Adam McKensy). Drawn to the artistry, community, and sense of home the House provides, Star embraces drag as both refuge and revelation. Through this newfound family, Star begins to reconcile fragments of their past—displacement, foster care, and cultural trauma—with the transformative power of performance. Along the way, romance blooms with Levi (Jeffrey Michael Follis), adding intimacy to an already crowded journey of self-discovery.

Payette approaches the musical form with sincerity rather than irony, treating songs as extensions of emotion rather than interludes. The music, composed with his trademark blend of pop sensibility and Indigenous motifs, elevates the narrative. When Star belts their first number under Borealis’s lights, the moment transcends story mechanics—it becomes a cathartic reclamation of voice. The film's strength lies in its sincerity. Drag is presented not just as entertainment, but as a spiritual practice —a way of embodying truths that everyday life often suppresses. Here, drag becomes a ritual, a means of survival, and a rebirth. In scenes where Star fuses Indigenous spirit with drag persona, the film achieves a rare cinematic electricity.

Performance-wise, Chiblow carries the film with charisma and vulnerability. Their portrayal of Star is tender and raw, balancing bravado on stage with fragility off it. The chemistry with Follis is genuine, though occasionally the intensity dips when scenes shift from spoken dialogue to song. McKensy brings gravitas as Mother Borealis, a commanding presence whose looming mortality and refusal of care add stakes to the House’s future. Supporting players, including Jason Sakaki and Connor Parnall, inject both humor and tension into the drag house dynamic, fleshing out the community around Star.

STARWALKER stakes its claim as an Indigi-Queer narrative first and foremost. The Two-Spirit identity of its protagonist is not decoration—it is the foundation of the story. Payette refuses to separate queerness from Indigeneity, instead showing how the two intertwine in resilience and expression. The moments that succeed do so spectacularly. When Star confronts their trauma through song, or when Mother Borealis’s drag becomes sermon-like in its fervor, the film approaches a state of transcendence. These are the sequences audiences remember, not the missteps in dialogue. For those willing to embrace STARWALKER on its own terms—a hybrid of theatre, film, drag, and ritual—the payoff is undeniable.

The film also gestures toward broader commentary on chosen family, intergenerational care, and queer survival. As Mother designates Levi as her successor, tension within the House underscores the fragility of queer communities—how they are built, fractured, and rebuilt again. In these moments, STARWALKER becomes more than a showcase of glitter and gowns; it becomes a meditation on continuity and legacy.

What’s most exciting about STARWALKER is its unapologetic refusal to conform. In an era where musicals often default to nostalgia or irony, Payette delivers one rooted in urgency and cultural specificity. It may not be seamless—a few first attempts at such fusion are—but it signals a voice unwilling to compromise. Payette is committed to reshaping what musicals can be, bringing Indigenous and queer stories into the spotlight with music, love, and fire.

In the end, Starwalker is a film that dazzles, even when it stumbles. Its imperfections are part of its charm, reflecting the messiness of identity and the rawness of community building. It is not polished within an inch of its life, and that makes it feel alive. Viewers may walk away divided—some frustrated by its inconsistencies, others exhilarated by its audacity—but none indifferent. For a musical about drag, resilience, and chosen family, indifference would be the true failure. For a film that tries to wear so many hats, it pulls it off in a way I would have never expected.

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[photo courtesy of URBAN INK PRODUCTIONS]

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