Queenie

It’s Christmas Eve and Queenie wants to give her present to Tom, but he doesn’t respond. Spending Christmas with her own family for the first time in years, she goes to midnight mass with her grandmother, Maggie, Diana, and her mother. Queenie looks at her mum’s light skin, thin frame, and loose curls. They don’t look alike. Diana texts Queenie about the church incense, and the two exchange sardonic texts. Queenie’s grandfather falls asleep. As everyone else sings, Queenie thinks about Tom. She prays for Tom to text her back. She also prays for her own happiness.

On Christmas Day, Queenie is watching a movie alone while Maggie cooks. When she hears her mum arrive, she pretends to be asleep, but Sylvie catches on right away. Although Queenie claims she’s doing okay, Sylvie reminds her that she doesn’t need to be so stoic while she’s hurting. At dinner, Maggie tells Sylvie that she looks too skinny. Queenie’s grandmother tells them that they’re all beautiful. Queenie asks her grandfather to stop playing the news station, reminding him that she works at a newspaper. He tells her that she works at a magazine, not in the news.