‘FEMME’ Review — Queer erotic thriller is stylish, sexy, and provocative

A review of the new film, in some theaters now

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett is a revelation in FEMME, a new erotic thriller from writer-directors Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping. He plays Jules, a gay Black Londoner who moonlights as Aphrodite Banks, a fabulous drag queen. One night, still in drag, Jules ducks into the corner shop down the street from the gay bar, hoping to grab some cigarettes. There he runs afoul of a group of hooligans led by Preston (George Mackay), leading to a brutal gay-bashing incident that leaves Jules bloodied, bruised, and naked.

Several months later, Jules has become a veritable shut-in, scarred both literally and psychologically by the attack. He musters up the courage to go to a bathhouse, where he sees his attacker in the sauna. Jules is out of drag, and Preston doesn’t seem to recognize the man he left battered on the sidewalk months earlier. And… he’s interested. So begins a dance of seduction between victim and perpetrator; if Jules can get under Preston’s skin, can make him let his guard down, then maybe… he can get some revenge.