dir. Nina Noël Raaijmakers

Two years after graduating from the St. Joost School of Art and Design with the film “My Mother the Atomic Bomb,” genre director Nina Noël Raaijmakers is back with her remarkable body horror short film “Femme.” In just 17 minutes, “Femme” is a captivating, bold, gritty exploration of cisgender female bodily autonomy, femme body integrity, and consent that earmarks a bright future for Raaijmakers.

“Femme” wastes no time jumping straight into the action, disorienting the viewer alongside protagonist Fem (Nola Elvis Kemper) within seconds as she is dragged from her quiet, isolated bedroom and into throngs of people at a party. She is plied with alcohol before her roommate Luna (Jatou Sumbunu) sheds light on the situation—as part of what appears to be a college hazing ritual, the women must have sex to be given back the doors to their rooms. Unhappy with “how long it is taking” for Fem to make a move on a man at the party, she thrusts one upon her and the duo go to her room. After Fem noticeably isn’t enjoying the encounter and asks him to stop, he continues regardless and then leaves abruptly to continue partying. The following morning, Fem wakes up with an unusual rash which marks where the man touched her, and she and Luna get to investigating what could be the cause of her mysterious ailment. Fem soon embarks on another mission, one of carnal pleasure and sexual discovery as she enjoys anonymous sex with various men, and soon discovers her rash begins to clear. 

What is immediately apparent about “Femme” is the in-your-face delivery of its hard-hitting topics, never shying away from the double standard in which female sexuality is often treated in society compared to men’s, and the danger that women face when undergoing the exact same explorative period of their formative years. Exquisite cold blue lighting is used to personify Fem’s loneliness, even during sexual scenes, as opposed to the warm, glowing rooms she inhabits alongside Luna. Mid to long shots make up the sexual encounters the women do not enjoy, or they’re hidden entirely, while close-ups and a focus on their animalistic breathing bring their pleasurable rendezvous to life. The effect is that it places the audience right into the highs and lows of college life and the female experience right with these characters, which makes the body horror that comes so much more shocking.

As well as these societal anxieties, Raaijmakers injects spine-chilling body horror into the mix as Fem begins to discover that her sexual prowess and pleasure have restorative properties—and she uses this newfound ability to avenge Luna when she becomes the victim of a sex crime. Raaijmakers counts Julia Ducournau among her influences, and her homages to Raw (2016) are apparent from scenes of Fem drifting through a party with blurred shots and sounds while throwing herself at men like a predator hunting prey, to her embracing her animalistic side and attempting to use meat to heal her blistering wounds.

“Femme” is a triumphant short film from budding director Raaijmakers, both celebrating female autonomy in a “good for her” narrative that shows a young woman harnessing her sexuality after an encounter that saw her choice stripped from her. At the same time, it casts a scathing eye over the way in which sexual women are shamed by those around them in a way that their male counterparts are not, offering a nuanced look at women’s sexuality in a modern society with impressive body horror effects that are sure to see Raaijmakers achieve great things in the future.