Femme

After being attacked outside a London nightclub, a drag queen decides to turn the tables in this Hitchcockian queer noir.

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Candyman) dazzles in this electrifying film as Jules, a talented drag performer who transforms into the mighty Aphrodite Banks on stage. After being assaulted on the street by aggressive drug dealer Preston (George MacKay, True History of the Kelly Gang), Jules’s confidence is shattered, leading him to retire his act. But later, when he unexpectedly catches Preston’s roving eye in a gay sauna, Jules senses a twisted opportunity to challenge his abuser.

Premiering at this year’s Berlinale, Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s exhilarating debut feature masterfully toys with the passive weakness often associated with the ‘femme’ label and hinges on a canny role reversal to critique homophobia, hyper-masculinity and repression. Intriguing and topical, and with sensational star turns from Stewart-Jarrett and MacKay, this explosive neon-lit morality play struts in a bracing, subversive new direction for the genre.