How would you handle coming face to face with your attacker? Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s “Femme” takes that very question — and the revenge story that follows — to a new level, as it follows a lauded drag artist (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) who crosses paths with his homophobic assaulter (George MacKay) in a gay bathhouse months after his terrible attack. What transpires is an unexpected tale of forgiveness, empathy, and yes, even violence.
The official synopsis for the film reads: “With his performances as Aphrodite Banks, Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) has a place among London’s celebrated drag artists. One night after a show, he steps out to get some cigarettes and is brutally attacked by a man (George MacKay) out with a gang of his friends. Although Jules is able to recover physically, he withdraws from the outside world, traumatized. Months later, he recognizes his attacker by chance in a gay sauna.
The official synopsis for the film reads: “With his performances as Aphrodite Banks, Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) has a place among London’s celebrated drag artists. One night after a show, he steps out to get some cigarettes and is brutally attacked by a man (George MacKay) out with a gang of his friends. Although Jules is able to recover physically, he withdraws from the outside world, traumatized. Months later, he recognizes his attacker by chance in a gay sauna.
- 2/14/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
A performer is subjected to a brutal homophobic assault and finds himself in a disturbingly intimate situation with his attacker
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay bring alpha performances to this psychodrama of sexual danger from first-time feature directors Sam H Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, developed from an earlier award-winning short film. Jules, played by Stewart-Jarrett, is a drag artist with an enthusiastic club following and supportive flatmates: protective, plain-speaking Alicia (Asha Reid) and Toby (John McCrea), who has alcohol issues and is not-so-secretly messed up by his unrequited feelings for Jules.
Preparing for a show one night, Jules notices a guy outside the venue, checking him out: this is the sulky, straight-acting Preston (MacKay), who scowls at Jules’s seductive smile and stalks off. Later, when Jules pops into a late-night pharmacy, rashly still in costume and makeup, Preston shows up with a gang of mates and subjects him to a brutal homophobic attack.
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay bring alpha performances to this psychodrama of sexual danger from first-time feature directors Sam H Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, developed from an earlier award-winning short film. Jules, played by Stewart-Jarrett, is a drag artist with an enthusiastic club following and supportive flatmates: protective, plain-speaking Alicia (Asha Reid) and Toby (John McCrea), who has alcohol issues and is not-so-secretly messed up by his unrequited feelings for Jules.
Preparing for a show one night, Jules notices a guy outside the venue, checking him out: this is the sulky, straight-acting Preston (MacKay), who scowls at Jules’s seductive smile and stalks off. Later, when Jules pops into a late-night pharmacy, rashly still in costume and makeup, Preston shows up with a gang of mates and subjects him to a brutal homophobic attack.
- 11/30/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
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