Review of Elle (2016) by Yasemin Y — 29 May 2017

A strange film that is both exhilarating and frustrating at the same time. Exhilarating for it has an excellent performance from Isabelle Huppert (which is on par with her haunting and sadistic role in "The Piano Teacher") and a perfect setting for an urban thriller à-la-Michael Haneke's "Hidden".

Frustrating for it seems to have some tonal issue as the plot shifted from a PTSD-focused "rape film" (horrible name for a genre film but has been actually used by major outlets), to a religious tale of the "Crime and Punishment" type full of Catholic implications, and of course to Verhoeven's trademark - a raw thriller full of sexual innuendos and psychological repressions.

Such tonal shift made the film difficult to interpret, especially with a confusing ending that may require a second watch for full appreciation, as many details throughout the films were not fully developed (Michele's background, her employees' strange behaviors, the fate of the other participants of "the Last Supper" - this film has so many interesting characters and details).

Nevertheless, this is definitely one of the best urban thrillers in recent years. The lighthearted but accurate touch on the gaming industry is also interesting ("Styx" is an actual game that was indeed developed for PS4 by a French firm, posters of games and comics on the wall are also of real and popular products), as this setting has been hardly explored by the film industry.