Queen at Sea is a 2026 drama film written and directed by Lance Hammer. It had its World Premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where it won the Silver Bear Jury Prize, and was released in the UK last Friday, 11 September.

Amanda (Juliette Binoche) walks in on her stepfather, Martin (Tom Courtenay), having sex with her mother, Leslie (Anna Calder Marshall), who has advanced dementia. This has been a bone of contention between Amanda and Martin before: Amanda believes that her mother does not want sex. Indeed, Martin has been told by Leslie’s doctor that, due to her mental incapacity, she can no longer give consent, although he cites online sources which dispute this. On the spot, Amanda calls the police and Martin is arrested for sexual assault.

Amanda, is a tenured academic at Newcastle University who has taken a sabbatical to be close to her ailing mother in London, accompanied by her teenage daughter Sara (Florence Hunt). As Amanda tries to negotiate her mother’s illness, Sara seeks solace in first love, striking up a relationship with a local boy.

So, we have a neat juxtaposition between first love and late love: Leslie, who may or may not be fit to give her consent; and Sara, who at fifteen definitely cannot, legally. And yet while Amanda calls the police in on Martin, she appears by her actions not only to condone Sara’s decision but to actively encourage it.

This is a beautifully layered piece of filmmaking. Without ever feeling preachy, it covers the nature of consent, the relationships between mothers and daughters, and the assumptions we make about older people’s sex lives.

However, at its heart this is a devastating film about dementia, and as such it is not an easy film to watch. Whilst both Courtenay and Calder Marshall are both excellent in their roles (and indeed both won acting awards in Berlin), their situation is utterly heartbreaking and so very difficult to watch.

For me, this would have been a 5* film, but for one key plot thread fading away without any adequate conclusion. (Whilst I am firmly in favour of not tying up all the loose ends, this one needed something more than it got).

If you can manage this very difficult watch, Queen at Sea is a very good film and will give you much to think and talk about afterwards; but be warned (again) – it is far from comfortable viewing, in fact it is devastatingly sad, and many will find in distressing.