‘Femme’ Review
Nathan Stewart-Jarret and George MacKay in ‘Femme,’ a brand new homo-erotic thriller from Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping.
‘Femme’ is arthouse cinema’s newest attempt at giving Queer people their very own ‘Kill Bill’
Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s 2024 thriller, ‘Femme’ is an extremely empty, yet visually gorgeous attempt at adding something new to the conversation when it comes to queer cinema. Even the solid performances and stunning cinematography couldn’t save the lack of direction that was ultimately holding the film back, keeping an interesting concept from it’s full potential.
In ‘Femme,’ Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) is a drag queen going under the name “Aphrodite Banks.” The film chronicles Jules’ experience following a violent attack from a group of homophobic men, which included Stewart-Jarrett’s co-star George MacKay as “Preston.” In the film’s beginning, we see Jules embark on a journey of revenge, much like that of Uma Therman’s in the iconic ‘Kill Bill.’ After Jules recognizes one of her attackers in a gay bath house, the two begin their story.
What started as a reclamation of an awful encounter in the form of seeking out revenge porn against said attacker, takes a dramatic shift from the exploration of revenge to the exploration of love amongst an openly gay man, and one with enough built-up internalized homophobia to attack a drag queen.
The reason ‘Femme’ doesn’t work is because it doesn’t care about the very character that it’s meant to be led by. The film goes from putting everything into this “revenge story” led by a queer, black man to caring more about the white counterpart who engaged an attack on the so-called protagonist in the first place. Besides the fact that the film’s interest become painfully clear 3o minutes into the film, it still dragged on for another 60 minutes in what felt like a never-ending loop of the same exact scene.
Where the film really grinds my gears is the fact that it does not use violence and aggression sparingly. It is constantly used in sex and dialogue and it’s doesn’t let up. Not even in the end, when Jules’ so-called “friend” invites Preston to Jules’ comeback drag show as “Aphrodite Banks” with the intent of sabotaging their relationship, which spoiler-alert, ends up in yet another brutal attack on Jules.
The film is pointless in all regards. It has nothing interesting to say about sexuality, or homophobia. It masquerades as a revenge thriller, but in reality is just a painfully poor use of everything it had going for it, and entirely abandons anything redeeming about the film to focus on every character except it’s main one, who all, by the way, exist only in the context of Jules and none of them are ever redeemed because the film ends before it has a chance to say or do anything interesting. Yet another examples of “all roads lead to pain and suffering for black, queer people” and that’s the ending we should accept? I don’t think so.
While ‘Femme’ isn’t all bad, with it’s stunning visuals and powerhouse performances, it lacks true empathy. It lacks an understanding of how to represent queer people and how to represent the oppression they face. The film is not a complete dumpster fire but it is in all regards very icky.
★★★
By Ryan Nicolas
