Drag queen film that was too controversial for Britain

‘Femme’, a violent erotic drama, hit just a handful of cinemas in 2023, as its tortured journey to release is documented by Ryan Gilbey in his book extract from It Used to be Witches’

- Ryan Gilbey

In 2023, the British filmmaker Campbell X put out an invitation on social media to "please share with me your most controversial take on LGBTQI films". Among those who responded was Francis Lee, the director of God's Own Country and Ammonite. "Make your gay characters complex," Lee said. "Problematic.

Nasty fuckers who do bad things. Unapologetic. Evil. Manipulative. Unlikable. Three-dimensional. Villainous. Not just the ‘cute’ teens holding hands.”

It’s an admirable goal. And yet that manner of portrayal invariably encounters opposition from funding bodies, festival selection panels and distributors before it can even reach critics and audiences. One of the most egregious examples of a radically queer film being stymied on its way to the marketplace is Sam H Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s 2023 thriller Femme.

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett plays Jules, a statuesque drag queen who is the victim of a homophobic attack. Months later, he spots his closeted assailant, Preston (George MacKay), in a gay sauna. Preston doesn’t recognise him out of drag, which gives Jules the chance to contrive a sexual relationship with him as revenge.

Raising the budget was a challenge even off the back of a Baftanominated short of the same name. A leading UK body turned the film down at the funding stage. One company pledged a chunk of the movie’s budget, only to withdraw it six weeks before shooting was due to begin. Privately, its executives expressed doubts about the commercial viability of Black queer content, as though the casting of Stewart-Jarrett as Jules might limit the film’s appeal.