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Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay deliver standout performances in this intense exploration of sexual risk in the directorial debut of Sam H Freeman and Ng Choon Ping. The film is based on a critically acclaimed short and follows Jules (played by Stewart-Jarrett), a drag performer with a dedicated fan base and a supportive group of roommates: the fiercely loyal and honest Alicia (Asha Reid) and Toby (John McCrea), who struggles with alcoholism and unrequited love for Jules.
While getting ready for a performance, Jules observes a man outside the venue who is checking him out. This man is Preston, who appears sulky and masculine. He scowls at Jules’s seductive expression and walks away. Later on, when Jules makes a quick visit to a pharmacy in full costume and makeup, Preston shows up with his friends and violently attacks him due to his homophobia. Jules’s negative feelings improve when he sees Preston at a gay sauna and realizes that he is unrecognizable. He decides to approach him. Soon, they engage in unconventional sexual activities, which are even more thrilling because Jules is planning some kind of retaliation against Preston. But is there something else going on now?
Nothing is more cliched and tired in the movies than someone going undercover only to find they like being in their fake persona and they are beginning to have genuine feelings or friendship or respect for the person that they’re there to take down. But the storytelling here is more complex and more tightly constructed than that. Femme is a really well-worked-through story with tense developments and reversals; it keeps you on the edge of your seat and the outstanding performances from Stewart-Jarrett and MacKay have delicacy, subtlety and depth. What a great feature debut.
Source: theguardian.com
