Femme – REVIEW
Image: George McKay and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett in FEMME
This is a psycho-sexual thriller with so many bends in the plot, you can’t predict how it’s going to end. It’s the story of a gay man who is viciously assaulted one night while in drag, then months later sees his attacker in a gay sauna and devises a plan for revenge.
The tension in this film begins almost immediately, yet subtly. Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) is a drag performer preparing for a show in a small club in a squalid suburb of London. We meet him in the dressing room, applying his make-up, and there is something about the slow, deliberate strokes, the dim lighting, the stark environment that creates an atmosphere of foreboding.
Jules takes to the stage as Aphrodite Banks, greeted by a posse of fans, and lip syncs his way through a dramatic anthem. After the show, he goes outside for a cigarette but realises he has run out. There’s a small corner shop a short walk away, but with Jules still wearing a long braided wig, heavy make-up and high-heels, the walk feels fraught with risk.
That risk is realised when a group of thugs enters the store just after Jules does. One of the gang, Preston (George McKay) a fierce-looking, heavily tattooed lad, was earlier shown standing outside the nightclub where Jules was performing.
When the youths start harassing Jules, he makes a snide remark to Preston about having seen him earlier. This enrages Preston who follows Jules out of the store and then begins an unhinged, brutal assault.
Three months later, Jules is sitting on his couch engrossed in a video game, afraid to face the world again. His flat mates do their best but he is despondent. However, after some reflection, he gathers the strength to go to a gay sauna where he is confronted by the sight of Preston — unmistakable due to a distinct neck tattoo.
After his initial shock, Jules realises two things: 1) Preston is a closeted gay and 2) Preston doesn’t recognise Jules out of drag. Realising an opportunity, Jules devises a bold and very dangerous plan. Some of the dangers are obvious, some less so.
The script for this film is not perfect but the concept, the performances and production are excellent. Stewart-Jarrett is powerful as Jules as he moves from his safe queer world to the unfamiliar landscape of aggressive, heteronormative, toxic machismo.
McKay shows the same level of range with his portrayal of the volatile, emotionally inhibited Preston who starts to let his guard down by degrees, revealing, but just barely, a desire for tenderness.
The ending is perhaps not as satisfying as it could have been, not just because it is left open-ended, but because you feel you really want to know these two main characters better. There is clearly quite a backstory for both of them.
This is one of those films you’ll want to see with a friend or two because it poses a lot of questions, with regard to the narrative itself and in a broader social context.
★★★
