While films with positive gay and lesbian characters have multiplied in the '90s, so have depictions of queers as less than desirable members of society. With its depiction of a serial killing gay transvestite, I Can't Sleep joins the troubling latter group.

However, it's difficult to say if this provocative, nihilistic French drama is homophobic because it is based on a true story of two gay "granny" killers.

The story is set in the "New France" -- not the familiar one of intellectual bourgeoisie contemplating infidelity or the meaning of life, but a France filled with poor immigrants and almost paralyzed by social ills. The story principally follows two brothers from Martinique: Theo (Descas), a hard-working family man, and Camille (Courcet), his strikingly beautiful gay drag queen brother.

But Camille harbors a secret other than his sexuality: He and his white French lover (Renaud) have been terrorizing Paris with a series of brutal murders, all on older women. The story is based on Thierry Paulin, who killed more than 20 women between 1984-1987. He died from AIDS before coming to trial, and his lover is serving a 20-year sentence. (French with English subtitles)

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