Adapting their 2021 BAFTA-nominated short film, directors Sam H Freeman and Ng Choon Ping bring their queer neo-noir thriller to the feature-length stage with Femme . Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) is a drag queen with a powerful presence, but after a vicious homophobic attack, he finds himself retreating into a reclusive lifestyle. But the perfect opportunity for revenge against his attacker (George MacKay) soon opens up, and Jules is going to take it.

The noir thriller has its many classic tropes, amongst them is the ‘undercover agent getting a taste for the other side’ narrative as seen in modern classics such as The Departed or the Infernal Affairs trilogy. It's often a tired narrative drive, but here it is given a fresh new perspective thanks to the queer lens that the film is projected through. Jules’ gender identity plays into the film really well, the eponymous ‘Femme’ identity being something Jules suppresses in order to force his attacker to face the toxic masculinity that they embody. The film powerfully shows the pain and hurt of having this core identity stripped away from you, with much of the film’s first act focused on this wallowing and agoraphobia. Jukes’ need for revenge is immediately sympathetic despite the use of taboo methods such as revenge porn and gaslighting. To some extent, Jules is the villain, but perhaps it’s the all too real parallels between his situation and those experienced by queer people around the world which has us rooting for his morally dubious revenge to succeed.

Freeman and Ping’s direction is full of gorgeous lighting in particular, there’s a good use of bisexual lighting throughout which perfectly shows Jules’ dwindling balance and eventual desire to lead this dual identity in order to try and get one over the guy who took his life away for so long. The way the directors shoot the sex is interesting, often opting for as unerotic an angle as they can get by having this sex feel transgressive and criminal as to reflect how Jules’ has been persecuted in the opening. It all serves to create this atmosphere where sexual identity is constantly observed and scrutinised, ready to be stripped away in an instant.

Femme’s strongest quality lies in the dynamic between MacKay (1917, Pride) and Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits, Utopia). The pair have this angry sexual chemistry to them that drags you along as they each drag each other down, both trying to silently fight for dominance over the other with the pair capturing this potent top/bottom relationship with a kind of violent lust. I think Stewart-Jarrett stands out in particular with his ability to effortlessly switch from vulnerable to controlling in the same scene, it’s a mastery of his craft which is electric to watch.

2023 has already given us some stonking great bits of cinema, and Femme can easily be added to that list. Erotic and gripping in equal measure, with a real mean streak running in its core for the people that MacKay represents. Femme is the new queer thriller to look out for. Femme is available to watch digitally from January 15^th and out in cinemas from December 1^st.