A drag queen takes revenge on his homophobic attacker in the heart-pounding teaser for Femme
Jules (L) and Preston (R) in the teaser for Femme. (Agile Films)
Set to make its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, the first teaser for the genre-breaking queer revenge thriller Femme has finally arrived.
Directed by Sam H Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, the highly-anticipated film follows Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), a thriving drag queen whose life is upturned after a brutal homophobic attack.
Long after the events of that fateful night, Jules encounters his deeply-closeted attacker Preston (George Mackay) at a gay sauna. But without his wig or makeup, Preston does not recognise him, giving Jules the opportunity to infiltrate Preston’s life and exact revenge.
As Jules peels back the layers of his identity, he discovers power in a new kind of drag. But the dangerous seduction threatens to turn deadly at any moment.
The Femme teaser gives a glimpse into the vibrant London LGBTQ+ scene, alongside bringing a uniquely queer angle to the revenge thriller genre.
Neo-noir thrillers often centre hyper-masculine characters, and by riffing on this theme, the directors hope to “flip it on its head”.
“We aimed to put our own stamp on a genre that we love but from which we have often felt exclude,” they said in a statement.
“A queer reframing of such a hetero-centric genre was the perfect way to explore – and explode – conventional ideas of sexuality, masculinity, patriarchy, and identity.”
The feature film is based on the directors’ 2021 BAFTA-nominated short film of the same name, starring Paapa Essiedu and Harris Dickinson. However, they want to make clear that this is a fresh project.
“We wanted to distance the film from the short. There were new characters and a new story,” Freeman told Deadline about updating the actors. “I think we wanted the film to be a fresh start.”
The film ultimately aims to confront the viewer’s own morality. “What we really wanted is for people to root for them to be together, but at the same time feel really uneasy about rooting for them to be together,” Ping explained.
“It’s both a thriller-thriller and a psychological thriller, but also an emotional thriller, where you want to slam the brakes at the same time as you want to slam the gas.”
There is currently no theatrical release date for Femme, but we’ll keep you updated as and when we hear word.
