Catherine (Elisabeth Moss) is staying with longtime friend Virginia (Katherine Waterston) at her family's lakeside cottage home. Last year, Catherine brought her boyfriend James which infuriated Virginia. Catherine works with her fame artist father. This year, she's devastated by his recent suicide. Catherine invites annoying Rich (Patrick Fugit) to their quiet retreat.

I couldn't figure out this female friendship for the longest time. The movie has a lot of flashbacks and it's a struggle to understand the time/context. It's a relationship jigsaw puzzle. It's hard to understand why these two like each other but it does a great reveal at the end. At times, the movie shows that Catherine is psychologically breaking down which leaves the story telling untrustworthy. I wonder if making them sisters would be more compelling. As friends, it's unlikely that Catherine would stay with the rape-creepy Rich around.

Grief, loss, mental trauma and co-dependency are explored in writer and director Alex Ross Perry's Queen of Earth. A raw psychological drama with a keynote performance from Elisabeth Moss who at times unleashes bile at those around her.

Moss plays Catherine who grew up together with Ginny (Katherine Waterston) her best friend, they are spending a week at a remote lake house which they also did the previous year. At that time it was Ginny whose life was in turmoil with Catherine helping her to pull through.

Now Catherine is in a dark place with mental instability due to the death of her father and the ending of a relationship with her boyfriend.

Over the following days both women realise that they have been drifting apart for some time with Ginny unable to help Catherine through her mental trauma. Catherine seems even more bitter that this year Gina has brought along a new boyfriend with her.

The film has a lot of moody shots, Moss looks great with her make up running down looking that she is on the edge of a breakdown but this film is a slog to watch and is just too ponderous.

Queen of Earth is a character study of a depressed woman who unravels following death, scandal, and a break-up. She spends a week at a high end lake side house belonging to a friend.

The visit, which should have been a calm, nurturing respite from her personal tragedies turns into a gut wrenching week. Her friend lacks the patience and empathy to help her heal. Instead she pushes her further into depression and decompensation.

Elizabeth Moss is brilliant with this long, slow disintegration. I could compare her performance to Elizabeth Taylor in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' or Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf.

Katherine Waterston, daughter of the beloved Law and Order actor San Waterston, plays a hard edged, unkind, and self centered rich girl. She is unable to help her friend with debilitating depression. In fact she worsens the situation with her criticism, and harsh comments. She is a slender brunette with Ali McGraw looks. Look for more good work from this actress.

The movie moves slow as a glacier. The visual elements are very simple. The lovely house, the lake, and the faces of the two actresses are the main elements. Extremely important is the music.

The musical score establishes the mood, the dread, the tension, the intense unease which characterizes this film. A woman walking down a flight of steps turns into a tense and anxious scene because of the musical score. Another writer/director would have used a voice over to communicate with the audience. Director Alex Ross Perry uses music.

I believe this is only the 4th film by Alex Perry. I think it is a very ambitious undertaking. It is similar in pace and mood to the Lars von Trier film Melancholia. I look forward to more films from Alex Ross Perry.

This is not for every one. It is a very slow and unhappy movie. The characters are not likable. The men are horrid. It is a study of two women and a friendship which is no longer viable. It is a study of a woman who loses her grip on reality and has no one to help her. It is an excellent film with a brilliant performance worthy of an Oscar by Elizabeth Moss.