This film is currently unavailable
Elle
Isabelle Huppert gives an unforgettable performance in Paul Verhoeven’s provocative thriller about one woman’s response to a violent attack.
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Overview
Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Starship Troopers) makes a typically conspicuous return after a quiet decade with this complex, controversial, Golden Globe-winning psychological thriller. French icon Isabelle Huppert – who can switch from scathing to playful with a liminal quiver of her upper lip – gives a staggering performance as Michèle Leblanc, the director of a video game company who is raped in her own parlour by a masked assailant. Giving no immediate sign of distress and taking what appears to be a deliberate pleasure in shrugging off the terrifying incident, she locks the door after her attacker and gets on with life. Michèle is a woman who mocks the idiocy of others and enjoys her own power, especially her capacity to disrupt. When her attacker insinuates himself into her psyche via a series of text messages, there is a whisper of fear, but she soon flicks it to ‘game on’.
American writer David Birke’s screenplay (translated back into French) is persistently ambiguous and ironic, avoiding the easy psychology and obvious motivations of the rape revenge fantasy for something far more textured and sophisticated in its treatment of desire and control. It is full testament to the collaboration between Verhoeven and Huppert that they expertly navigate amorality and sustain a permanent state of suspense, mischief and challenge.
Related
Red Island Red Island
Drama 2023 117 mins Director: Robin Campillo
French writer-director Robin Campillo offers a searching exploration of memory and politics, in this boldly conceived story of boyhood in 1970s Madagascar.
Drift Drift
Drama 2023 93 mins Director: Anthony Chen
Cynthia Erivo delivers a captivating performance as a young refugee, who after fleeing war-torn Liberia finds hope when she meets a fellow lost soul.
Drifter Drifter
Drama 2023 79 mins Director: Hannes Hirsch
A scintillating portrait of a young man coming to terms with life, love, sex and relationships in contemporary Berlin.
Four Daughters Four Daughters
Drama-documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
The mother-daughter relationship is explored to cathartic effect in this complex and poignant hybrid documentary about a woman and her missing daughters.
Her Last Affaire Her Last Affaire
Drama 1936 68 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell's 'society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, and glorious comic double-act from Googie Withers and John Lurie.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.
Captain Fantastic Captain Fantastic
Drama 2016 119 mins Director: Matt Ross
Viggo Mortensen plays the father-gone-primitive in this wonderful award-winning comedy about an off-grid family.
I, Daniel Blake I, Daniel Blake
Drama 2016 100 mins Director: Ken Loach
Ken Loach’s powerful, Palme d’Or-winning invective against welfare injustice captured the mood of modern Britain and became his biggest box office success.
The Girl on the Train The Girl on the Train
Thriller 2016 112 mins Director: Tate Taylor
Emily Blunt stars in the adaptation of the best-seller about a divorcee who entangles herself in the investigation of a missing young woman.
Arrival Arrival
Science Fiction 2016 116 mins Director: Denis Villeneuve
Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner star as the humans who make first contact with extra-terrestrial visitors in this richly textured sci-fi from director Denis Villeneuve.
Toni Erdmann Toni Erdmann
Comedy 2016 162 mins Director: Maren Ade
A lonely prankster upends the life of his high-powered daughter in a riotous comedy, deep and sharp.
Daphne Daphne
Drama 2017 87 mins Director: Peter Mackie Burns
Emily Beecham stars in a powerful character study about a 31-year-old chef who's drifting through her London life, until she witnesses a shocking event…
Red Island Red Island
Drama 2023 117 mins Director: Robin Campillo
French writer-director Robin Campillo offers a searching exploration of memory and politics, in this boldly conceived story of boyhood in 1970s Madagascar.
Drift Drift
Drama 2023 93 mins Director: Anthony Chen
Cynthia Erivo delivers a captivating performance as a young refugee, who after fleeing war-torn Liberia finds hope when she meets a fellow lost soul.
Late Night with the Devil Late Night with the Devil
Horror 2023 93 mins Director: Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes
Like Ghostwatch reimagined as a cheesy 1970s chat show, this deviously clever found-footage horror has scares to spare.
Drifter Drifter
Drama 2023 79 mins Director: Hannes Hirsch
A scintillating portrait of a young man coming to terms with life, love, sex and relationships in contemporary Berlin.
Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings
Anthology 2024 174 mins Director: Jason Bradbury, Jesse Ung, Diego Alvarez Parra, Itai Jamshy, Fabia Martin, Alejandro Sandoval Bertín, Sara Larrota, Benjamin Belloir, Jeremy McClain and Arthur Cahn
A compilation of new gay short films showcasing unashamedly positive stories of love, sex and romance to move, inspire and uplift.
Four Daughters Four Daughters
Drama-documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
The mother-daughter relationship is explored to cathartic effect in this complex and poignant hybrid documentary about a woman and her missing daughters.