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“Femme” walks this complicated line between its narrative of revenge and its self-empowerment. Jules seduces Preston to film and humiliate him by posting his affair on a porn site and, by extension, outing him publicly. In Jules’ mind, doing what Preston and his friends did to him is equivalent to getting revenge on him. But isn’t coming out a form of queer violence? “Femme” feels steeped in quiet rage without becoming as violent or outlandish as something like the rape-revenge thriller “Ms. 45”, but the seriousness with which she justifies Jules’ actions seems strange. Based on a short film of the same title and filmmakers following a vaguely similar story of a black queer man seducing another insecure white man, I wonder why a queer person of color’s revenge is to put himself in danger over and over again for? Publicly denounce a self-hating white homophobe? The experience seems retraumatizing even if it is one step closer to Jules’ intended goal. Days later, I’m still not sure how to feel, and the moral dilemma of the story (especially how it unfolds and leads to the final scene) doesn’t seem any clearer.
Despite its ethically murky background, directors Ng Choon Ping and Sam H. Freeman frame a rather stylish picture with cinematographer James Rhodes. The club looks like something out of a music video, the bathhouse is awash in neo-noir blue, and Jules’ house feels warm when his friends are there or bathing by candlelight. The lighting is so exact that it sometimes reflects Jules’ emotions, such as a creepy fluorescent light to illustrate how insecure and isolated Jules feels, or when he is in the light of the television escaping with a round of video games. Even banal street scenes look good enough for a magazine photo shoot. These are not the dirty revenge and exploitation films of yesteryear. “Femme” is polished and cool; Even the images themselves are seductive.
“Femme” is complicated for many reasons, whether it’s Jules’ revenge saga or following her healing while exploring how to present herself outwardly after the events of that brutal night. We see her pain when she walks away from her friends and the person she was. We see the physical violence she receives from Preston’s punches and kicks in gory close-ups. Both Stewart-Jarrett and MacKay do a remarkable job of dealing with their characters’ internal and external conflicts, but much of “Femme” is about the pain of queer life, which leaves out its joy. Over time, we see what it means to take back power and identity from hate, but getting there is a difficult path and Jules’ method may not work for everyone.