Elle is a movie to remember, to respect and to unreservedly recommend
Paul Verhoeven has made many movies of great guilty pleasures, but ELLE is exceptionally good because with Isabelle Huppert he has an actress providing a gloriously disciplined portrait of a hyper-controlled executive. Working in French, it is the least foreign film I have seen in a long time, it is as modern in its sensibilities and in its sexual politics as I can recall. Huppert plays Michelle, who is unapologetic in her choices, who has a monstrous father, an insecure ex-husband, a fool for a lover and an immature son -- she is surrounded and defined by disappointing men. Her lifelong female friend is also her business partner, but Michelle is clearly the engine of their success. Still, Michelle has vulnerabilities which are exploited during the course of this movie, and watching her navigate these weaknesses is the pleasure of this narrative, that she buckles under the weight of circumstances but never breaks... which struck some reviewers as cold, but that I found completely refreshing. This along with MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is the best female-based genre picture of the last two years, and I would rank ELLE the better of the two!