I first saw Paapa Essiedu in his hip-hop, exhilarating award-winning performance of Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. He gripped the audience with his mood swings and pent-up energy. And his 2020 starring role in Michaela Cole’s devastating tv drama I May Destroy You cemented his star quality – playing a Black, Queer gym instructor who is traumatised by a man-on-man sexual assault.
So it’s not surprising that Paapa is absolutely mesmerising as the femme boy Jordan in the award-winning and Oscar-tipped short film Femme. Written and directed by Sam H Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, it follows Jordan in his silver collar, glittery crop-top and torn white shorts to a Gay club and onward with a female acquaintance to search for drugs one morning at 3am.
To say the storyline goes wrong would be a wild understatement. Going off without the girl, Jordan is taken off into the night by a taxi driver (Harris Dickinson), who shows signs of wanting more than drug money. At a party house, the drug transaction leads to a tentative sexual move but the violence that ensues – in two separate incidents – is truly shocking.
Paapa , whether he’s applying his lippy or striding down the street has all the fake confidence of a boy out of his depth. His wide-eyed innocence is deceiving, but in Paapa’s close-up portrayal absolutely enticing. As if to emphasise the impending danger, we get flashbacks to his father leaning in to the very young Jordan and telling him:” there are always gonna be boys who wanna hurt you”.
No more spoilers about the outcome but safe to say that we desperately want to know what’s next as the film ends. I hope it’s developed further and we see more of the terrific talent that is Paapa. Femme is by Agile Films. Check agilefilms.com for future news of its release after the festivals season.
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