Elle (2016) | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

91% Tomatometer 245 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings

The successful CEO (Isabelle Huppert) of a video game company tries to learn the identity of the man who raped her.

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Elle

Elle

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Critics Consensus

Elle finds director Paul Verhoeven operating at peak power -- and benefiting from a typically outstanding performance from Isabelle Huppert in the central role.

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Critics Reviews

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Elle (2016) | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Cate Young Bitch Media The rape scenes are neither gratuitous nor lingered upon. Mar 8, 2021 Full Review Elle (2016) | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Namrata Joshi The Hindu ...twisted, transgressive, disturbing, and strangely liberating and cathartic. Jul 24, 2018 Full Review Elle (2016) | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Adam Nayman Cinema Scope On the level of craft, Elle is excellent. Sep 28, 2017 Full Review Elle (2016) | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Adrienne McIlvaine Vague Visages Elle is a demented Rorschach test of the highest degree. Feb 6, 2024 Full Review Elle (2016) | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Vadim Rizov Filmmaker Magazine ...a trifle underwhelming. It is, nonetheless, very nice to hear from Verhoeven again, and while it’d be wrong to say the film is a comedy — it’s fundamentally a very serious proposition — it’s often a very funny movie... Jan 17, 2023 Full Review Elle (2016) | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Brian T. Carney Washington Blade Isabelle Huppert [gives] a mesmerizing performance in Paul Verhoeven’s provocative Elle. Dec 21, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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noa r started well. though once all was revealed, it wasn't exactly what i was in the mood for and found it to be very weird. i was confused on what the message of the story was. was it a character study? just a erotic thriller? isabelle huppert is still able to steal the screen though. superb performance! Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 04/10/24 Full Review Alec B Like all of Verhoeven's best films, "Elle" is transgressive and constantly defies expectations. It's a unique work, one that's very much a product of the current culture and a rebellion against it. Huppert's performance deserves to be studied for years to come. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 12/14/23 Full Review Danielle T Avec cette histoire d'une femme qui, après avoir été violée chez elle, recherche son agresseur plutôt que d'aller à la police, le nouveau film de Paul Verhoeven est tout sauf un banal récit de vengeance. Sobre en apparence, la mise en scène, à l'instar de la protagoniste, ne dévoile que graduellement son infinie complexité. Les retournements de situation abondent, ceux-ci ouvrant systématiquement sur davantage d'ambiguïtés dans la personnalité d'une héroïne fabuleusement atypique. D'un détachement inquiétant, Isabelle Huppert rend Michèle plus difficile à déchiffrer encore que ses autres personnages aux tendances sociopathes vus dans Violette Nozière et Merci pour le chocolat, de Claude Chabrol, et aussi dans La pianiste, de Michael Haneke. Il s'agit, à n'en pas douter, d'une rencontre au sommet. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/17/23 Full Review Aldis H If you accuse me of not getting this oeuvre at all, you would be correct. Do the French like this? It's 100% morally bereft, and it's all a big joke and who cares? Rated 1/5 Stars • Rated 1 out of 5 stars 10/12/23 Full Review Lerolerolero L The movie is boring and nothing makes sense, go watch it if you wanna waste ur time. Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/17/23 Full Review Georgan G This movie is not for a general audience. It's a slick version of open relationships, and tastes in the bedroom that are for the BDSM crowd. The line between actual abuse and consensual role play is explored. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Paul Verhoeven Director Isabelle Huppert Michèle Leblanc Laurent Lafitte Patrick Anne Consigny Anna Charles Berling Richard Leblanc Virginie Efira Rebecca
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Synopsis The successful CEO (Isabelle Huppert) of a video game company tries to learn the identity of the man who raped her.

Director
Paul Verhoeven

Producer
Saïd Ben Saïd, Michel Merkt

Screenwriter
David Birke, Philippe Djian

Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics

Production Co
Entre Chien et Loup, SBS Productions, France 2 Cinéma, Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion

Rating
R (Disturbing Sexual Content|Brief Graphic Nudity|Violence|Language|Sexual Assault|Some Grisly Images)

Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Drama

Original Language
French (France)

Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 11, 2016, Limited

Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 14, 2017

Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.3M

Runtime
2h 11m

Sound Mix
Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio
Digital 2.39:1
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