Femme

Strong performances from Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay enhance a gay drama that could have dug deeper.

George MacKay

This first feature by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping bears the same title as the short film that marked their debut in 2021. I have not seen that earlier work but it is obviously no surprise to learn that the new piece has grown out of the old one even if the names of the two central characters have been changed. The leading players in the short were Paapa Essiedu and Harry Dickinson but for the feature we have Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay. Both of them turn in impressive performances. Indeed, it is the strength of their acting that carries the film. But it is somewhat surprising to find that in elaborating the original Freeman and Ping have failed to dig as deep as one would expect.

Set in East London Femme is centred on two young men who outwardly could not be more different. Stewart-Jarratt plays Jules who is at ease with his gay sexuality and has created a drag persona, Aphrodite Banks, in which guise he takes the stage at a gay club. MacKay’s role is that of Preston Frears whose macho manner is so emphasised and so potent that he leads a group of friends in a savage homophobic attack. The victim he picks on is Jules who after performing has ventured out to buy cigarettes still wearing his stage costume and make-up. But the fact is that Preston too is gay, albeit a man so closeted that he always asserts an extreme anti-gay attitude when with those who know him.

Central to the plot of Femme is what happens next. It is three months later and Jules, having recovered from the traumatic attack, goes out to a gay sauna. There he recognises one of the customers: it is his assailant but the latter having never seen him other than in drag does not recognise his victim. That enables Jules to take up with Preston and a series of hidden liaisons follows. Sex is involved, but when it comes to what Jules really has in mind, we note that he takes a knife with him. However, it could well be that his actual intention is to obtain an incriminating photo which when uploaded would reveal to the world Preston’s sexuality. Which course of action Jules really favours is for a while not entirely without doubt, but the central ambiguity of this seeming revenge drama has another source: while Preston starts to show signs of real feeling for Jules, the latter might only be playing up to Preston as part of his plan but it could also be that he is finding unexpected pleasure in the rough sex they have together.

The quality of the two central performances certainly gives the film impact (not least it has the advantage of giving MacKay a role singularly different from anything he has done before), but it's an asset too that this particular gay drama has such a very individual plot-line. There is definitely an invitation inherent here to see individuals as less easily defined than is often supposed, more fluid in their sexual nature and often prone to present themselves in a particular light which conceals another side to them. If Preston's adoption of homophobic behaviour to hide his sexuality is an obvious example, giving the film the title Femme encourages us to see Jules as his opposite, a gay man with a strong feminine side. But as the story develops, we are made to question that. There are interesting ideas here but they are hinted at rather than explored in depth even though that would have seemed the raison-d’être when deciding to develop a short film into a much longer one.

This holding back would matter less if Femme were a stronger piece in other respects. The ambiguities in the tale may help to create a certain unease in the film’s atmosphere but it hardly generates strong suspense and if judged as a thriller the piece seems underwhelming and over-extended. A further reason for that lies in the failure of the screenplay to make anything of substance out of the subsidiary characters (again the extension of the material was the perfect opportunity to do that). As it is, only one of them, Toby (John McCrea) who is the best friend of Jules, plays an important role and that is so only because this weakly-drawn figure makes an unexpected move which will then bring the drama to a climax. Femme should certainly be seen by admirers of its star players but nevertheless it feels like a work that could have yielded much more than it does.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, George MacKay, Aaron Heffernan, John McCrea, Asha Reid, Antonia Clarke, Nima Taleghani, Moe Bar-El, John Leader, Peter Clements, Jackson Milner, Paris Tenana.

Dir Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, Pro Myles Payne and Sam Ritzenberg, Screenplay Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, Ph James Rhodes, Pro Des Christopher Melgram, Ed Selina Macarthur, Music Adam Janita Bzowski, Costumes Buki Ebiesuwa.

Agile Films/Anton/BBC Films-Signature Entertainment.
98 mins. UK. 2023. UK Rel: 1 December 2023. Cert. 18.