In London, Jules successfully works as a drag queen. Celebrated by the nocturnal fauna and well surrounded by his friends, Jules is, as they say, on his “X”. But one evening, everything changes. While he rushes to buy cigarettes in a convenience store between two acts, still in stage costume, Jules is savagely attacked by a gang of homophobic thugs. However, a few weeks later, a traumatized Jules spots Preston, the leader of the attack, in a gay sauna. A plan of revenge is then born which will lead Jules into troubled psychological and physical lands. Uncomfortable on purpose, queer neonoir Women proves to be as immersive as it is transgressive.
Co-written and co-directed by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, this film unveiled at the Berlinale immediately immerses us in Jules’ colorful nocturnal world. The hyperdynamic and nervous staging, all in proximity, immediately places us in an intimate relationship with the protagonist.
So that, when Preston’s gang spots him, we share Jules’ sudden anguish. In the same way, we feel this anxiety turn to fear, then this fear turn to pure terror, when Preston and company, evidently “gay breakers” (“Gay breakers”) gay bashers ), begin to follow Jules before throwing themselves at him.
And as we experienced this painful communion with Jules, it will be very difficult for us to judge his subsequent actions, even if some of them are morally reprehensible, even illegal. This is intentional, obviously, because, in doing so, the filmmakers force us to question our preconceptions about justice in general, and revenge in particular.
Preston only knowing Jules from her drag queen persona, he cannot make the link between his new acquaintance and his victim. Member of a criminal gang, Preston lives his homosexuality in secret: a question of survival in his environment. And that’s what Jules intends to play on…
Everyone has their own simulacrum
As Jules increases his influence over Preston, the desire for revenge comes to border on desire, period. Here, the film ventures into delicate areas sometimes almost relating to Stockholm syndrome (we think at times of the controversial masterpiece by Liliana Cavani Night porter/The door of our note).
One of the most fascinating aspects of the film lies in the fact that Jules and Preston are both in representation: Jules facing Preston, and Preston facing his friends and his organization. In short, they each exist in their own simulacrum. In this regard, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Candyman) and George MacKay (1917) are remarkable in their ease in delivering these nuances of pretense punctuated by moments of truth.
The result is a psychological thriller whose tension rests on a host of questions. Will Jules carry out his scheme? Is the punishment planned disproportionate? Will Preston or one of his acolytes uncover Jules? With what consequences, if any…?
Throughout, Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping subject their protagonist, who has been unable to resurface since the attack, to a sort of journey at the end of the night. And in a typical noir genre approach, everything goes from bad to worse.
Believing that he is getting out of the abyss, Jules actually sinks deeper into it — which generates more questions as tension levers. What if this was a necessary evil? Once you hit rock bottom, isn’t it easier to propel yourself back up?
Ultimately, and we are grateful to its authors, the film refuses miserabilism and perpetual victimization, opting for a finale which provokes a state of stupor, but leaves Jules with the promise of a better tomorrow.