Someone on here recommended a film called Femme and we decided to give it a go - and I'm very glad we did. At first I wondered how they would stretch the story out to fill s film but that wasn't a problem at all. It kinda goes in directions you don't really expect, or to be more precise it suggests several possibilities for how it could develop and keeps you wondering which of them will happen.
Also, I found it an incredibly tense film, there is this ever present threat of things going horribly horribly wrong, a threat that carries with it the promise of danger and sickening violence. But at the same time the film had a lot of emotion attached to it, it's one of those ones that pulls off the neat trick of making you - at least to some extent - sympathise with a character who is a total arsehole and whom we first meet dishing out an unprovoked and savage gay bashing to the main character.
Well, I say main character, but arguably the most important role in the film is not that of the protagonist through whose eyes we see the events unfold but in fact his conflicted wide boy lover. I dunno the actor who played that role but he nailed it totally, the fear in his eyes as he tries to resolve his sexuality with his thuggish dealer lifestyle was truly affecting. In almost every scene I really felt his anguish, his fragile ultra-macho front always seemingly on the edge of complete collapse, eyes darting everywhere looking for an escape that can never be found, while at the same time he quivers with truly frightening rage that could explode at any second - and which is no less frightening for being based on a castle of sand.
Anyhow, there was a bit where we paused it to go for a wee or something and then we started chatting and doing various things and I realised I was subconsciously delaying restarting it cos I was afraid to watch the rest of the film as things approached an inevitable breaking point.
The ending was unexpected, ambiguous and emotional - it wasn't perfect but I have seen many many films where the ending is a real let down and this certainly wasn't one of those.
So, tense, intriguing and emotionally complex, we liked it a lot. Thanks for the tip - who was it who mentioned it by the way?