Lady Like review: The story of an underdog who has risen to the top

At a time when drag is under attack, hearing the stories of those behind the make-up takes on a great level of importance. That’s how it feels going into Lady Like, a film documenting the ‘rags-to-riches’ life of Lady Camden all the way from London to the finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14.

The film, a fascinating first feature from Luke Willis, paints the story of an underdog who has risen to the top and conquered most of their fears and obstacles. However, there are still moments of vulnerability that ground Lady Like, providing tangible connections for the audience.

In her own words, Lady Camden (real name Rex Wheeler) tells her story of finding ballet, studying at the Royal Ballet, before moving to America to dance and then turning to drag. Lady Like moves through this at quite a pace, lingering slightly here and there, clearly determined to get to Drag Race.

Here we see Camden go from being critiqued, misunderstood, and underestimated by Drag Race alums such as Bob the Drag Queen to being beloved by queens and fans alike. Lady Like touches on the personal implications of all this as well as making time to discuss the financial, mental, and emotional costs of the show.

Personal throughout, Lady Like addresses the suicide of Camden’s brother as she returns home to friends and family. Camden also references a distant relationship with her father on several occasions but never really gets into it. These heavier moments are balanced with the more fun moments such as Camden reuniting with an old school friend and learning that “Twickenham is gay now!”. A standout scene and one that got perhaps the biggest laugh when the film debuted at BFI Flare as the Closing Night film on Saturday 23 March was when we see Camden’s mother being taught LGBTQ+ slang by Camden’s drag mother.

Lady Like, which runs at just under 90 minutes, does feel like it’s about to end several times and could perhaps have been restructured as it’s not clear why at one point we return to the topic of Camden’s brother. Otherwise, it’s a pleasant film that offers a behind-the-scenes glance at a person who’s achieved their dreams and looking ahead to new ones.

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