Femme
2023
***½
Director: Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping
Cast: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, George MacKay, Aaron Heffernan, John McCrea, Asha Reid, Peter Clements, Charley Palmer Rothwell, Moe Bar-El, Nima Taleghani, Jackson Milner
Jules, a drag performer who becomes a victim of a horrific homophobic attack, unexpectedly encounters his assailant in a different setting. A simple act of revenge turns into a deadlock when Jules gets to know his attacker. Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping make their feature debut with this unusual thriller, which subverted my expectations in both good and bad ways. The story definitely has more depth than it first seems, but it comes at the expense of watching Jules suffer physical abuse time and time again.
