Queen of Manhattan

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Queen of Manhattan

Sep 2025

1h 42m

Biography

Drama

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6 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

The story of Vanessa Del Rio, set against the backdrop of organized crime-controlled Times Square during the 70's and 80's. Del Rio's career spans over 21 years and 200 films, making her a prolific early adult film entertainer and sex workers' rights proponent.

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Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (LAist)

Nov 11

A better film has yet to be made about Vanessa extraordinary Vanessa del Rio.

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Terry Sherwood

Film Threat

Nov 12

7/10

The production design, from the damp stairwells to the glassy reflections of police sirens, evokes both nostalgia and nausea.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Sep 25

4/5

…an original, bracingly fearless film on a subject matter generally treated as taboo…sex-workers have been consistently demonised by the media, Thomas Migone's sharply made movie aims to speak up for them and blow away the cobwebs of stigma and prejudice…

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Mark Dujsik

Mark Reviews Movies

Sep 19

1.5/4

Vanessa often feels like a background player or a second thought among the rest of the plot.

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Maitland McDonagh

MaitlandOnMovies (Substack)

Sep 17

[S]et during the adult-film industry’s golden age, some 12 to 15 years of primarily the ‘70s with a bit of ‘60s and ‘80s on either end ... it’s a nicely evocative trip back to that rightly fabled time and place. If anything, it’s not gritty *enough*.

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Avi Offer

NYC Movie Guru

Sep 15

An often engrossing and character-driven biopic.

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Alexander O.

@Alexander_the_Great Dec 5

Do yourself a favor: don’t waste your time 👎

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Chante T

Dec 2

1.It had the potential to be a great movie about the iconic porn star….it had no real direction,it was all over the place,I was so disappointed.Some of the backstories didn’t make any sense to me. 2. It should’ve been a miniseries/limited series,maybe the backstories would’ve made more sense. 3. The best part of the movie was that it looked good,very authentic,very real.

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joel g

@davidbondo Sep 19

I cannot believe vanessa Del Rio-real name Ana Maria Sanchez would be satisfied with this movie -like documentary. Could have used a Total script re-write. It did a decent job of looking at her childhood which guided her into the P lifestyle, but that is it. Remember in her heyday she was an icon. An icon for the latina as well as the african american woman who wanted into the "P" lifestyle". Vanessa was a top-notch "P " star for 200 films , and ruled the P world for approx 6 years. If you saw some of her films you saw she had an enthusiasm during every scenet that was second to none..Jerry Butler called her the most enthusiastic actress he has worked with. The movie could have shown the types of parties she was invited to, The drug lifestyle she was involved in or stayed away from, the celebrities that she mixed with etc, etc,The financial highs she rode for 10-12 solid years.. Instead u get this look at her life that is really dis-jointed, going back and forth from present day to childhood. Jesse metcalf could have re-written a better more co-hessive script if he was invested and so inclined, but I think he just wanted in and out. And the movie focused TOO much time on metcalf and his boyfriend. Like , who cares?.. The movie is supoosed to be about vanessa and her hardships and tribulations, not metcalf and his aids infected boyfriend. For that I cant recommend this poorly made movie about someone that was waaay better than this junk.

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Thomas Mignone

Director

Esai Morales

Papi

Drea de Matteo

Dominique

Shane West

Phil

Taryn Manning

Actor

Jesse Metcalfe

Carley

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Synopsis

The story of Vanessa Del Rio, set against the backdrop of organized crime-controlled Times Square during the 70's and 80's. Del Rio's career spans over 21 years and 200 films, making her a prolific early adult film entertainer and sex workers' rights proponent.

Director: Thomas Mignone
Producer: Yulia Safonova, Thomas Mignone
Screenwriter: Thomas Mignone
Distributor: Level 33 Entertainment
Production Co: Doom Incorporated
Genre: Biography, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 19, 2025, Limited
Runtime: 1h 42m

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