Watch Elle For Free

Just perfect...

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Psychologically stimulating throughout, Verhoeven portrays a different response to the invasive penetration of rape. One I haven't seen before, and considering the event in question immediately takes place as the film commences, the originality of this perspective bursts through the screen. A businesswoman, leading a video game company, is raped in her own home but decides not to report it due to past incidents with the police. Two vital elements of this production elevate it above the endless stream of psychological thrillers. Verhoeven's astute direction and Huppert's electrifying central performance. She, somehow, maintains a role that demands physical prowess and emotional damage. Her character's work life is so important and hectic, that she has no choice but to continue on despite the horrific crime that took place. Huppert magnificently conveyed rigidity, she was a strong character that you subconsciously admire her, even if her moral compass is slightly skewed. The psychological aspects remained refreshing as Verhoeven slowly peels away the complex layers that shroud this thriller. Plenty of backstory, substantial character development and an array of suspicious individuals, each carrying immorality. Some of the scenes, particularly the sexual encounters, felt reminiscent to 90s erotic thrillers due to the musical score. Old fashioned, yet nostalgically innovative. The problem, and it comes down to personal taste, was with a specific plot point that left the entire third act rather unfocused. Once the culprit is identified, Huppert's character seemingly continues sexual activities and it came across as hyperbolically forced, just to further illustrate her dementedness. It didn't work for me and released the grip that this thriller had on me. Also the relentless wave of unlikable characters really hindered the emotional response the story was trying to achieve. A decent thriller, one that is produced to the highest quality possible, but crumbles far too quickly towards its conclusion.

Although it begins with a deep, unsettling scene, I felt Elle is oddly naturally paced, especially keeping in mind the motley of contexts the lead character Michèle finds herself in. The runtime of the film is 2 hours plus, which should give you a clue this isn't per se a revenge film but a journey, a discovery into self.Michèle is stoic. Some may even feel she is astoundingly dignified in her approach to handling the colorful men in her life. These are men that are vulgarly selfish and infinitely wanting: they don't stop with their harvesting at all.I liked the movie except I'm not sure whether I'd recommend watching it. The reason is that I find MichèIe to be mostly one dimensional (except towards the end), mechanical, and therefore unrealistic. Her reactions are too contained and her expressions frigid.If you don't have anything else on your list or have time to spare, I'd suggest only then you go ahead and watch the movie.

I did not realise that this was directed by Paul Verhoeven until I had winced my way through it hoping there would be some interesting twist on the psycho-papa storyline.... But no. Yet again Mr Verhoeven goes down the Ladies love rape road, especially powerful ladies. And in the capable Ms Huppert who is a serious French actress don't you know, means you have someone who is willing to perform all kinds of self debasement for the amusement of her director and us! When I got to the end I just sat there thinking "WTF was that all about?" Paul, I believe Rocco Seffredi has stepped down from the rough porn genre so there is an opening for you there. Why not just cut to the chase?

Elle is an unpredictable, messed up thriller with an very uneasy theme throughout. For me the biggest highlights were Isabelle Huppert's performance and the unpredictable, uncompromising depictions of sexuality. The issues i've had with this film though were mostly the dialogue and the unnecessary and absurd subplots such as the Michelle's father backstory and the whole Vincent's girlfriend thing. To start with the first one, it really takes away from the tension and the seriousness of the plot to have surreal cheap gags(?) like him killing himself just to not to have to talk to his own daughter. I mean he literally killed about a dozen people and lived with it for another 30 years or so but its his daughter visiting him that gets him to be desperate enough to hang himself?come on movie. The vincent thing is really predictable and clichéd , the scene when he first sees his son is straight out of a My Name Is Earl episode, and his girlfriend is your standart stereotype of annoying, unfair, demanding and cheating girlfriend. At the end of the day i find it very hard to believe that any of the characters in the film(except michelle) could exist in the real world as they seem very cartoonish and one note. All in all was a decent film even with some serious flaws. 7/10