Elle

2016 Directed by Paul Verhoeven

When Michèle, the CEO of a gaming software company, is attacked in her home by an unknown assailant, she refuses to let it alter her precisely ordered life. She manages crises involving family, all the while becoming engaged in a game of cat and mouse with her stalker.

Isabelle Huppert Laurent Lafitte Anne Consigny Charles Berling Virginie Efira Judith Magre Christian Berkel Jonas Bloquet Alice Isaaz Vimala Pons Raphaël Lenglet Arthur Mazet Lucas Prisor Hugo Conzelmann Stéphane Bak Hugues Martel Anne Loiret Nicolas Beaucaire David Léotard Loïc Legendre Jean-Noël Martin Eric Savin Zohar Wexler Olivia Gotanègre Raphaël Kahn Jina Djemba Nicolas Ullmann Florent Peiffer Laurent Orry Show All…

Alternative Titles

elle, 她

thriller drama

130 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Keith Garrett ★★★★½ 25

Against my better judgement, you're all about to read one of the most personal things I've written. Because why not? It's much easier to say these things to a bunch of people you've never met, after all.
After Michéle is assaulted (the first time), she cleans the broken dishes off the floor, throws away the dress she was wearing, takes a bubble bath, and orders sushi.
After I was assaulted, I asked him to drive me back to my dorm, took a shower, went online, ate some late night ramen, and went to bed. Back to classes as usual the next day.
I didn't cry. I didn't think it counted as assault. I mostly withdrew. A blank stare became the…
Review by Aaron ★★★★★ 47

“I see you’re staying in character.” “A big part of my character is being unpredictable.”
Note: To the extent a character study can be spoiled, the following contains some spoilers—but if you don’t wish to know what happens in Elle, then you probably shouldn’t be reading about Elle, now should you?
Early in Elle, Paul Verhoeven’s latest provocation, Michèle Leblanc (Isabelle Huppert) parks her car outside a restaurant at which she plans to have dinner with her ex-husband, Richard Casamayou (Charles Berling), her best friend and business partner, Anna (Anne Consigny), and Anna’s husband, Robert (Christian Berkel). Parallel parking, Michèle backs into another car—undeterred, she continues to nudge the car until it moves backward and its fender is detached (though…
Review by matt lynch ★★★★½ 2

One of cinema's greatest perverts makes his manifesto on guilt and taboo desire.
Review by Lucy ★★ 16

i think the fuck not
Review by zeno 🛸 ★★★★★ 24

Demonlover 2, indeed. There was certainly a sense that Assayas owed to Verhoeven in terms of aesthetics and provocation — hentai and CGI porn essentially mimicking RoboCop's cuts to absurd commercials, or its frankness toward sexual taboo, among other things. This returns here via video game cutscenes, perhaps as a discreet reminder of the director we're dealing with — one who has been largely absent for more than 15 years, save for 2006's Black Book — cutting into a film that is otherwise more restrained (for all its 'controversy'), more in tune with the sensibilities of European filmmaking. Raunchy as ever, but its intensity is set to a steamy simmer when compared to the erupting, chromatic, muscular vigor of Total…
Review by Lise ★ 28

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

It took 3 months for me to decide to go ahead and post something on this film. I avoided it because most of you loved the film and I hated it. I didn't hate it. It is well done. It is engaging. It is suspenseful. But what I saw, what I saw in the story, what I saw as the thing being told, I hated that more than most any other film I've ever seen. We bring ourselves to each film. The combination of Elle and me produced the following.

American actors wouldn't touch the script, "It was only when we got the reaction of female American stars that we started to realize this kind of story without a revenge…
Review by josh lewis ★★★★ 7

women forced to search for their own avenues of power and pleasure in a world dominated by masculine aggression and desire, step one: manipulating that aggression/violence so that it's on a collision course with itself, rather than another victim... way too much to unpack here, and way better writers more qualified to do it.
Review by BRAT ★★★

the cat in this film looks exactly like my cat (his name is brad russell ryan michael fassbender pitt) & now i don't trust him to attack home invaders. but to be fair he IS a cat so i never should've trusted him in the first place i guess
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★½ 21

I'm kind of in love with this film.
Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★★½ 2

“Shame isn't a strong enough emotion to stop us from doing anything at all”. There’s a lot of perceptive writing on this already so no need to praise Huppert and Verhoeven more, but two quick observations:
a) this makes for a great double bill with Breillat’s Abuse of Weakness starring Huppert, not one of her best movies but they complement each other very well. I’m surprised the connection hasn’t been discussed more.
b) I was laughing alone in a sell-out theatre a lot, particular in the first half, which just made my belief we need more pervy jokesters like Verhoeven to shake current cinema from its complacent place.
Review by Evan ★★★★ 7

TIFF 2016 Film #6
Elle is all kinds of disturbing, but that's why I love Paul Verhoeven. It's brutal, unforgiving, and quite disgusting. There's also a shocking amount of comedy; many laugh out loud moments that had myself and the the theater cackling through out. Major credit to the writing! Isabelle Huppert was masterful; probably the best female performance of the year.
Even though this isn't one of my favorite Verhoeven films. I am beyond impressed he was able to make such a quality film after not making a full length feature in 10 years!
Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★ 14

I'm normally a huge fan of provocative films but this one rubbed me the wrong way!
I didn't find it to be empowering.. nor feminist as I was led to believe by reviews!
Written and directed by a man depicting his warped version of a strong woman thereby propagating the myth that women secretly want to be abused! And apparently an equally disturbing definition of Women's Empowerment! Women's Empowerment demands equality in regards to rights and freedoms enjoyed by men, equal pay and control over our own bodies! We don't aspire to mimic the very worst attributes of man as was portrayed in the film!
Misogyny rearing its ugly head disguised as a feminist voice in film when in all…

Recent reviews

Review by dame

bro thats kinda fucked up
Review by kev

a movie about how we're all a little jealous of the people who post polaroids on instagram captioned "imagine if i never met the broskis"
Review by supersubu ★★★★½

It's one of the most interesting films of the decade. Great film.
Review by <3 ★★★★

if i had a nickel for everytime i was watching a paul verhoeven film that jumpscared me with a gay kiss seemingly out of nowhere that adds no real value to the film but still felt somewhat necessary because of what it contributed to the dynamic between the two female characters then i would have two nickels which isnt a lot but its kind of weird that it happened twice right
anyways isabelle huppert is phenomenal in this and i am in no place to contribute any real commentary on the themes. it was so enticing yet repulsive and i still have no idea what to make of it.
Review by Harris Dang ★★★★★

A dry, contradictory, transgressive, startlingly funny and amazingly aloof piece of work that enrages, provokes and amuses in equal measure; glued together by Paul Verhoeven's daring direction and Isabelle Huppert's fearless work; who brings so much emotional truth to the character of Michele.
Review by kev

like a less funny A Christmas Tale??? lol what
Review by anaconunan ★★★★

Gaslight Girlboss Gamer
Review by vivi ★★★★

this is everything promising young woman thought it was doing, from the playful darkly comedic undertones and its genuinely twisted yet assured take on rape revenge fantasy. so hard to watch and left me with a day-long throbbing headache filled with questions. i'm far from being the right person to properly dissect this but dear god how does emma stone sleep peacefully at night knowing she has isabelle huppert's oscar?
Review by Max ★★★

I like how every time this movie is brought up, my sister goes 'CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW FUCK-ABLE ISABELLE HUPPERT IS??? WHAT DO THEY DO IN FRANCE??'
Review by HarryNewYork ★★★★

Michelle is hoofd van een bedrijf dat videogames ontwikkelt. Op een dag wordt ze thuis verkracht. Ze vervolgt echter haar leven met dezelfde ijzige onverschilligheid als voorheen. De film is geen politieverhaal, maar eerder een trip door de psyche van het hoofdpersonage.
Door haar koelbloedigheid en egoïsme krijgt ze niet erg veel sympathie van de kijker. Isabelle Huppert speelt de protagonist wel zeer genuanceerd en levensecht. Prachtprestatie. Ook de rest van de cast levert een uitmuntende prestatie af.
Review by Kartik Aakhillan ★

The craze was good, the plot was hopeless.
Felt like a failed Phantom of the Opera take.
Review by ATSteel ★★★

...run that one by me again. An ambling, shambling pile of contradictions in its tonal transgressions, both serpentine and schematically at war with itself, but dang, if Huppert doesn't command the screen. [B-, 63]