A complex film that sidesteps every cliché. Paul Verhoeven and Isabelle Huppert are at the top of their game.
Huppert has always been good, but she’s never been better than this. Often shocking, surprisingly funny and strangely powerful, this is intense and fascinating.
Teases the viewer with its every double-edged frame.
There is not a single moment in the entire movie in which we are able to guess what she will do next – and that’s what makes Elle such a wild and surprising ride.
It’s Huppert who deserves most credit for Elle’s success as a movie. Inscrutable and unpredictable, her psychologically nuanced performance doesn’t just withstand the film’s provocations: it pushes back against them, transforming Elle into a remarkable character study of someone unwilling to be defined by anyone or anything.
With her steely hauteur, Isabelle Huppert is utterly arresting in Paul Verhoeven’s provocative film. No other actor could have pulled it off.
Isabelle Huppert is astonishing as a rape victim who tracks down her assailant in Paul Verhoeven’s provocative psychodrama.
General release. Check local listings for show times.