Elle
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Year Released: 2016
Rating: 3.0
Violent video game developer Michèle (Isabelle Huppert) is attacked and raped in her apartment one night but she doesn't report it to the police, instead going about her business (although suspicious of her employees). Casting Huppert as the lead was a superb decision - few could capture the internalized anger and outward calm as well - and her character's back story explains her somewhat inhuman behavior: she's a product of years of abuse, starting with her father (who was a serial killer) and eventually her ex-husband (who hit her) ... and she doesn't get along with her mother at all. It really stretches credibility in the final act when the rapist's identity is revealed and Michèle makes some truly gonzo decisions (call your rapist when you get into an accident! invite your rapist to dinner! follow your rapist into a cellar!) ... it makes an earlier scene where Michèle tells one of her programmers to take out his penis completely reasonable in comparison.
