Queen Cleopatra review: Controversial Netflix documentary deserves to be buried in a crypt

Cleopatra was “worshipped and feared by Egypt, courted and reviled by Rome,” one scholar says in episode one, setting the tone for what follows — a sloppily told tale of palace intrigue, blind ambition, and steamy romance. We’re told that Cleopatra lived in a particularly ruthless era, when siblings would often stab each other in the backs, literally, just to climb up the succession ladder. Almost as if they want to beat you to it, another academic describes it as “a Game of Thrones environment,” but with zero playfulness. And this is one of the main drawbacks of the show; while the recreations are indistinguishable from your grandmother’s favourite soap, the talking head portions are as dry as an Egyptian afternoon.

Even after watching four episodes, you don’t quite get an idea of who Cleopatra was as a person. When she isn’t being presented as a scheming seductress who would often cross moral boundaries to get what she wanted, she’s projected, funnily enough, as a Beyonce-like figure. The soundtrack includes trip-hop and rap, a stylistic choice clearly inspired by Black Panther.

But the show doesn’t have a soul. And every story needs one, even thinly produced Netflix docudramas about Cleopatra that don’t feature a single archive photograph of the palaces in which she lived, or of her many sculptures, or even paintings of her most famous conquests — both geographical and romantic. All of this would no doubt have highlighted just how fluid her image was, constantly being altered depending on who was holding the brush or the chisel.

Indeed, Cleopatra’s portrayal in films by dark-haired, olive-skinned women such as Elizabeth Taylor and Monica Bellucci (and maybe Gal Gadot someday) has clearly contributed to the general public’s perception of her. But even the scholars assembled by Netflix don’t seem to have a firm idea about what she looked like. While one woman says that she imagines her to be Black, like herself, a man says that he thinks she had light brown skin and curly hair, as he does. The consensus is that people project themselves onto Cleopatra. In that way, she isn’t unlike Jesus.

There was a controversy about this in the days leading up to its release, after the Egyptian Supreme Antiquities Council countered the show’s suggestion that Cleopatra was Black. In the recreations, she’s played by the mixed-race actor Adele James, who was immediately targeted by racist trolls. The trolling was undoubtedly encouraged by the Egyptian government’s condemnation of the show. But they have a point; if they feel that there is enough evidence to prove that Cleopatra ‘had white skin’, then it’s a bit rude of a Netflix show to suggest otherwise, especially when it doesn’t have proof to back its claims.

If anything, the discourse around the show makes you wonder what’s more ancient, the relics on display or the mindset of the people commenting on the colour of somebody’s skin.

Queen Cleopatra
Director – Tina Gharavi
Cast – Adele James, Craig Russell, John Partridge
Rating – 1/5