Femme (2023)

August 17, 2024 8:57 PM

Fabulous drag queen Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) is brutally attacked one night after a show by a thug (George MacKay) out with his mates. Three months later, a very different Jules recognizes the thug in a gay sauna, leading to a cat-and-mouse game of identity, desire, shame and revenge. 2023 British erotic thriller is the debut from directors Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, currently at 93/83 on Rotten Tomatoes. CW: violence, nail-biting suspense. Trailer. On Hulu and rentable elsewhere.
posted by mediareport (3 comments total)

The acting from the two leads in this is incredible (George MacKay is becoming one of my fave actors), and there are scenes as Jules works his way into Preston's life and circle of mates that are so tense and thrilling I was on the edge of my seat thinking of Hitchcock and Tarantino. The sex is realistic, steamy, and fearlessly filmed, with the writers making no apologies for the situations and emotions they're presenting to the viewer.

There are some unpredictable twists and surprising turns, though some elements of the overall story may seem predictable enough. If I had to make one complaint I'd suggest too much of what Jules is feeling and thinking is kept internal by the writers/directors, and while Stewart-Jarrett remains excellent at conveying emotions with few words, at times I wanted to see more stuff openly expressed, for instance between Jules and his roommates, who have a few sharply revealing moments.

It's a tightly edited film at under 99 minutes but unfolds carefully, even at times slowly as the situation escalates. Quite a little rollercoaster of violence, fear, sex, doubt and Gays Behaving Badly, if you're in the mood for that. Not a classic, but a provocative, interesting and kinky queer movie from a promising duo.
posted by mediareport at 9:20 PM on August 17, 2024 [1 favorite]

Huh--Nathan Stewart-Jarrett was on Misfits, and even though that series ended poorly I always wondered what most of the original cast had been doing since. I'll have to take a look at this.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:10 AM on August 18, 2024

Yeah, this one is going to stay with me a long, long time. Thank you for posting this.
posted by Molesome at 12:50 PM on August 20, 2024 [1 favorite]