The Queer Review presents Batman Returns with Bright Light Bright Light

Name: The Queer Review presents Batman Returns with Bright Light Bright Light
Start: 2025-12-23T21:15:00-05:00
Location: IFC Center

Schedule

Tue, 23 Dec, 2025 at 09:15 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

IFC Center | New York, NY

Join The Queer Review under the mistletoe for a special 33rd anniversary screening of the ultimate Christmas movie for misfits, Tim Burton’s BATMAN RETURNS at 9:15pm on Tuesday December 23rd 2025 at IFC Center in New York. In-person introduction by electronic pop musician Bright Light Bright Light and host Founder and Editor of The Queer Review James Kleinmann. BATMAN RETURNS-themed costumes encouraged!
Batman (Michael Keaton) might have his name in the title, but for us it’s all about the queer icon that is Michelle Pfeiffer’s skintight latex-clad antiheroine, Catwoman, purring and whipping her way across Gotham delivering one-liners like, “I am Catwoman, hear me roar!” Screenwriter Daniel Waters (Heathers, Hudson Hawk) keeps the deliciously camp and quotable dialogue coming.
There’s something about superheroes and villains wrestling with their double identities that those of us who grew up queer, feeling forced to hide our authentic selves, strongly identify with. The heightened tone of this gothic pop-up book of a movie charms, while production designer Bo Welch’s (reuniting with Burton following Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice) twisted urban fairytale is a festive feast for the eyes. Look out for a memorable cameo from Paul Reubens as The Penguin’s (Danny DeVito) father and remember kids: “mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it” but “a kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it.”