Shorts: ‘North Star’ Is a Powerful, Tender Mercy

The minute we see Colman Domingo on screen in North Star, he holds our attention with pinpoint precision. It’s not just the cowboy hat. He is playing a man struggling to keep everything afloat without feeling like he is failing anyone. PJ Palmer’s North Star is a lot of things all at one, but, ultimately, it’s about how true love can endure even when the world is desperate to snuff it out.

Domingo plays James, a rancher living on a beautiful, secluded property. Every morning, he tends to the land and to the gorgeous palomino affectionately named North Star. When he gets back to the house, he cares for his ailing partner, Craig (played by Malcolm Gets).

Craig’s sister, Erin, comes by every so often to administer drugs and help with the IV bags as James works outside. Erin is a very devout Christian, and she invades James and Craig’s home by changing the TV channel to an televangelist station and chats on the phone with her friends about how she (and her Lord) doesn’t approve of the life that James and Craig lead. “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” she mutters on the phone as her brother has no choice but listen. Even though James and Craig have a full, loving life together, Erin does not view James as part of the family.

North Star doesn’t not condemn Erin’s religion, but it does showcase how some people of faith blindly choose to follow a text rather than support and love the people right in front of their faces. James does not yell at his sister-in-law, but he quietly holds his ground. The love between James and Craig is a fact–it is not up for debate. As many conservative representatives and lawmakers consider regulations or laws that would restrict the love of queer people across America, North Star will resonate even more. It is a terrifying notion, but Domingo’s performance is a call for strength and resistance without succumbing to melodrama. Thankfully, Domingo has been gracing our screens a lot lately (fingers crossed for an Emmy win for Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Euphoria), but his assuredness and dignity radiate throughout North Star.

Director Palmer shoots his film with a robust fragility. Queer characters aren’t usually shown in “the great American landscape,” in the traditional sense of cowboys and masculinity, but Palmer’s film makes a case for visibility unlike we have ever seen before.

North Star is generous to its characters and their plight. No one should stand in the way of an enduring love, but you must be willing to fight for it.