Femme is a 2023 drama/thriller written and directed by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, both pulling double duties. Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) is a Drag Queen who performs under the name Aphrodite Banks. On Jules's birthday, while in drag, he's the victim of a violent hate crime. However, when he recognizes the perpetrator, Preston (George Mackay) in a gay bathhouse, Jules begins a relationship with him.
Femme dropped on Netflix in March 2024.
- Armored Closet Gay: Preston is deep in the closet.
- Bigot with a Crush: Preston is an Armored Closet Gay guy who develops feelings for Jules - who he unknowingly committed a hate crime against.
- A Birthday, Not a Break: Preston's hate crime of Jules happened on Jules's birthday. It's coming up to the year anniversary.
- Book Ends: In a crossover with Ironic Echo, Preston's dialogue before hooking up with Jules (asking if he wants a "big man to treat [him] like a little bitch" and if Jules "will do what says") is repeated by Jules to Preston in the third act.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Preston doesn't recognize Jules despite having badly beaten him up. It's partially because he was in drag at the time, but even so, Jules is surprised when Preston doesn't recognize him. It's underlined when he strokes the scars he inflicted and asks about them, making it clear he doesn't remember.
- Dramatic Irony: Preston asks Jules to give him the name of the person who inflicted the scar on him, saying he'll "fuck him up." It was Preston himself.
- Drag Queen: Jules is a drag queen who performs under the name Aphrodite.
- Gay Cruising: What kicks off the main plot. Jules is cruising in a bathhouse when he sees and recognizes Preston. Preston seems both to be cruising and to be afraid, swearing at someone who tries to hit on him.
- Homophobic Hate Crime: What kicks off the plot in the beginning. Preston brutally beats Jules for being in drag.
- Jealous Romantic Witness: Jules grinds on Preston's acquaintance Lydia in the club in front of him, aware that he can't say anything.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Played with. Jules is more feminine than the hyper masculine Preston, but Preston puts Jules in a different kind of drag - getting him to act more masculine after they nearly get caught having sex by Preston's equally homophobic friends.
- Sex in a Shared Room: While Jules and Preston have sex in several semi-public places, Jules goes as far as to give Preston a handjob in the nightclub while his friends are across the table.
- You Are What You Hate: The viciously homophobic Preston is gay.
