Etienne Fourie is versatile – a writer, a painter, a filmmaker, with several projects always in the works. The idea for this film was written down somewhere in his notebook in two parts: one of these was a relationship drama of a married couple, bickering about little things in life, while the other was a film about a drag club. Those two ideas have now become one integral whole. And Etienne’s work method is interesting: he first sketches and draws the story on paper and from there the angle of approach and everything we see on the big screen is born.

James is an actor with a failed career. When he is offered an opportunity to earn a little extra by performing as a drag queen at a club, he accepts. His wife finds out and a row is unavoidable. James is ready to do anything to save his marriage, to prove that the role he has been entrusted with at the club is perfectly honourable and he is in high regard. He also has to apply his best acting skills when an investigation into the suspicious murder of the club’s diva is opened.

Men in women’s clothes is instantly funny, but the author of “Stiekyt” does not remain on the thin ice of such a comedy. The film gets its significantly stronger ground from drama elements, including the motley members of the cabaret troupe who feel free and happy when they open up their feminine side. Plus the crime thriller running throughout the film. The combination of these three genres has produced a captivating result.

Mihkel Möölman