In the Lower East Side in Manhattan, a gang called the Young Gents stop in front of an apartment building and begin beating a couple to death, only stopping when Teddy whistles for them to stop because a shocked-looking couple, Arthur and Suze, have stopped in front of the apartment. As the other members of the Young Gents interrogate Arthur and Suze for information about where they live, Arthur and Teddy stare at each other, entranced. Suze tells the gang which apartment they live in.
Later, Suze and Arthur host their friends Ida, Baker, and Les in their apartment. Suze recounts their encounter with the Young Gents while Arthur is mocked by Baker and Les for his refusal to "be a man." A conversation about gender performance and expectations ensues, where Suze reveals a desire to "be Stanley Kowalski" and expresses delight at the violence caused by the Young Gents, which ends when Arthur loudly proclaims his anxieties about manhood and how he feels judged equally by men and women.
After Baker, Ida, and Les leave, Arthur and Suze clean up their apartment and Suze begins dancing, coaxing Arthur to dance with her. The two dance next to each other until Suze grabs a bottle, miming it being between her legs like a penis. Arthur takes the bottle from her and Suze prostrates at Arthur's feet and begs him to let her worship him. As Arthur takes the trash out he finds a blood-stained matchbook from The Blue Angel Club, which he imagines Teddy's face in; Arthur walks towards the bar.
As Suze watches Arthur walk away, she hears a neighbor calling for help from the hallway. Maureen hands Suze grocery bags and they walk up to her apartment. Maureen tells Suze that she's seen Arthur around but does not say where. Maureen expresses disgust for the appliance her husband buys for her and says that she wants a big, messy painting to take up a wall in her apartment. Suze tells Maureen about the incident with the Young Gents and Maureen waxes poetic to Suze about the nature of men.
Interrupting Maureen and Suze's conversation is Billy calling from the streets for Maureen's keys, who Maureen tells Suze is taking her out. Maureen shares that she is in trouble and will be travelling to Europe, and gives her keys to Suze to watch the apartment while she's gone.
At the Blue Angel Club, Arthur stares longingly at Teddy from across the bar as the Young Gents mess around at the bar; Arthur watches Teddy and the bartender flirt with each other. A young woman at the bar, Joanne, tries to get Arthur to dance with her until Dickie, a member of the Young Gents, puts his hand on Joanne's shoulder and shows her his drawings. Joanne expresses interest in Dickie, who becomes upset when Joanne won't blow him a kiss. Arthur follows Teddy into the bathroom where he and a bartender went.
Arthur walks into the bathroom and awkwardly washes his hands until Teddy ushers for the bartender, who he was sensually embracing, to leave the bathroom. Teddy tells Arthur that he remembers him from "2B," and asks where Suze is. Teddy begins flirting with Arthur, sharing that he does not have a father or "a way of being at all." Arthur confronts Teddy about the murder the Young Gents committed and Teddy confronts Arthur about being married to Suze. Teddy reveals that the Young Gents are preparing for a big fight and Arthur implores him not to. Teddy smiles at Arthur and grabs his chin gently; they imply that they'll see each other again.
Suze has the first of three fantasy sequences in the film, where she dances in Maureen's apartment while the Young Gents writhe around her in underwear and fetish gear. Suze comes back to reality, watching Les recite poetry as Baker accompanies him on the drum. The room is filled with fellow beatniks, as well as Dickie and Joanne. Dickie is deeply moved by the poetry while Joanne laughs loudly at it, eventually causing Les to stop and ask them to leave. An argument about etiquette breaks out between Dickie, Les, Baker, Ida, and Joanne and Dickie almost lashes out as Joanne. Baker realizes that Dickie is one of the street killers Suze told him about. Suze throws several glass bottles at Dickie as Arthur hides his face.
Suze and Ida walk down the streets after having left the party and Suze expresses a desire to be considered "imposing." Ida muses about the nature of womanhood, marriage, and female friendship while Suze describes what she'd do if she was a man. They stop in front of a phone booth that is occupied by Billy in full drag, crying on a payphone and begging their lover to let them come back. Suze cries as she watches them on the phone.
Suze and Arthur sit terrified in bed as the Young Gents whoop and holler outside of their window. Arthur and Suze discuss the nature of changing and evolving over the course of a life after Suze admits that she'd like to be someone else, which concerns Arthur. Suze asks Arthur if he loves her, and he tells her he "loves [her] for now" and that he worries about who she's becoming. Someone throws Arthur's clarinet through the bedroom window. Suze declares that she is going to confront the Young Gents as Arthur begs her not to get involved.
As Arthur closes the door, Gene and Lon are revealed behind the door. Gene opens the closet door to reveal Teddy, who is bloodied and beaten. Teddy hangs onto Arthur as he asks him if the Young Gents can hide out in his apartment. Suze returns to the apartment, and Lon takes her keys out of her hand as the Young Gents leave. Suze screams in fury.
Suze has another fantasy sequence where the Young Gents all line up to brand Suze with an iron as she writhes and hisses in pleasure.
Arthur strokes his robe and attempts to clean Teddy's blood off it. He gets dressed, in a suit and tie, spitting at his reflection in the mirror.
Suze and Arthur sit at the Blue Angel Club, attracting the attention of Billy, who sits at their table. The three have a discussion about gender expectations, and Billy flirts with Arthur, telling him that he has a theory about life and he'll tell Arthur "some blue night." Suze demands he tell her the theory and Billy smirks, telling Arthur and Suze that they both act "queer." Suze screams, flips the table, and grabs Arthur's hand to leave.
Suze rants to Arthur about Billy's insinuation, stopping when they come across the Young Gents stripping Joanne's fathers’ car. Joanne challenges the Young Gents to a contest where they have to be vulnerable with their feelings. Teddy volunteers, monologueing about the pressures of being compared to other men. Joanne is moved by this and Lon stabs her in the neck, killing her. Arthur yells out in horror and Teddy runs over to him and Suze. Teddy warns them that the Young Gents are targeting them and he can't get their apartment keys back to them. Suze offers to trade their keys for Maureen's, so the Young Gents can steal her stuff, and Teddy says he will try to get the swap; he affectionately says goodbye to Arthur.
Suze and Arthur return home, and Arthur kisses Suze after she repeats something Teddy said to them earlier. Suze runs into Billy as they walk up the stairs, who tells Suze his theory from the Blue Angel - that humans are "on a dying planet full of impossible obstacles."
Suze has her final fantasy sequence- Teddy and Dickie kiss at and stroke Suze as the rest of the Young Gents gyrate around her. Suze whispers 'please, baby, please" several times.
Suze goes through Teddy's leather jacket, grabbing a ticket stub and leaving the apartment. Arthur talks to his father on the phone and begs him not to visit them in the city. Arthur tells his father about how he has tried to meet the expectations society has on him as a man; Arthur's father sympathizes with him and assures him that he will not visit.
Suze arrives at the theatre that Teddy's ticket stub was for, which is a gay porn theater. The ticket taker makes her pay more to enter because she's a woman. Suze enters the theatre and starts asking about Teddy; one person asks if Teddy is Suze's husband. Suze says that he is, and proceeds to share her feelings on the nature of relationships, and laments that she doesn't know how to satisfy her husband. Suze then asks a man sitting in the back, who says that he knows of the Young Gents. The man reveals himself to be a cop who is about to bust the theater full of "criminal queers" and advises Suze to leave, which she does.
Arthur looks for Suze and runs into Teddy. Teddy asks Arthur if he wants to "lose control" and tells him that he could be his "favorite;" he also asks Arthur if he's ever thought about other men before, which Arthur silently confirms. Teddy and Arthur embrace as a wedding party exits a hall and dance. The bride bumps into Arthur and condescends to him about Teddy. Teddy proceeds to beat the groom up while Arthur watches, terrified and aroused.
Arthur hides his face in pillows on his and Suze’s bed. When he hears Suze come home, Arthur tells her that there is nothing wrong with either of them, they just need to "figure it out."
Arthur, Ida, Baker, and Les sit in Arthur and Suze's apartment as Suze dances. Suze continues to quote Marlon Brando and Ida yells at her to stop. The Young Gents barge into the apartment and hold everyone hostage. Lon returns Suze's keys to her and she gives him Maureen's keys in exchange. Gene leaves to rob Maureen's apartment and leaves Teddy, Dickie, and Lon to watch the hostages. Lon mocks Arthur for marrying Suze and Suze stabs him to death. She yells at Ida, Baker, and Les to leave, and reminds Dickie that Lon killed Joanne. Dickie punches Suze in the eye, saying that she has been asking for it; Teddy tells Arthur that they will be back to take care of Lon's body. Suze sits in a chair while Arthur crawls to her and kisses her feet, mirroring the earlier scene in the kitchen.
Suze goes to Maureen's apartment where she finds the remaining Young Gents dead, as well as Billy and Maureen's husband, who Suze saw at the porn theater. Maureen remarks that she's "nobody's wife" as Suze smokes a cigarette.
Some time later, Arthur conducts an orchestra as images of Suze and Teddy appear on screen.
The final scene is a split screen - one side shows Suze, sporting a short haircut and black eye, dressing up in Teddy's clothes; the other side shows Arthur dancing all the way home and into his apartment. The split screen wipes away when Arthur enters his bedroom, where Suze and Teddy are. Arthur and Teddy kiss passionately while Suze embraces Arthur from behind as she looks at the camera.
In the feature audio commentary on the Blu-ray release of the film, Kramer confirms that Chris Eigeman is the voice of Arthur's father on the phone in a scene.[4]
Director Amanda Kramer makes an uncredited cameo as a sailor in the bar scenes.[4]
Production
Amanda Kramer and Noel David Taylor wrote the screenplay in 2018; Kramer has said that she was able to convince producers to finance the film by calling it "the gay West Side Story," which Kramer described as "a lie" and "a Halloween trick".[5]
Please Baby Please had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 26, 2022.[10] In June 2022, Music Box Films acquired distribution rights to the film.[11] It was released theatrically in the United States on October 28, 2022.[12] The film began streaming on Mubi in the United States on March 3, 2023, and in most other territories on March 31, 2023.[13] It is set to be released on DVD,[14] in addition to a special edition Blu-ray by Vinegar Syndrome,[15] on May 30, 2023.
The official motion picture soundtrack was released on November 22, 2023[16] featuring the score composed and performed by Giulio Carmassi and Bryan Scary.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 77% of 61 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10.The website's consensus reads: "It'll be too campy for some, but Please Baby Please benefits from an artful aesthetic that's just as striking as Andrea Riseborough's performance."[17] In addition to the critics' consensus, 98% of the over 500 audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are positive.[18]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[19]
Drew Gregory of Autostraddle gave the film a positive review, calling it "an exploration of gender entirely on its own terms, entirely on our terms," citing the film's "broad and stylized" dialogue, and praising Escola and Riseborough's performances. She did, however, criticize the treatment of Sinclair's character Joanne, writing, "Kramer utilizes a degree of violence largely absent from the more cartoonish nature of the rest of the movie. She doesn’t seem to consider the implications of this shocking violence happening to the one Black woman character."[20]
Accolades
Please Baby Please won the 2022 Outfest Grand Jury Award for North American Narrative Feature[21] and was named one of the "10 Best Unsung LGBTQ Films of 2022" by GALECA.[22] The film also receive a 2023 Queerty nomination for best Indie Movie.[23]
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References
↑ "About". GiulioCarmassi.com. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
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