Paul Verhoeven's triumphant new film-his first feature in 10 years, and his first French film-confirms his position as one of cinema's great provocateurs. It begins with the aftermath of a violent rape. Yet the victim, Michele, played by the astonishing Isabelle Huppert, responds in ways we don't expect: she sweeps up the broken glass, takes a bath, orders take-out, and the next day returns to her high powered job as CEO of a video-game company. For this singular woman, who has survived a traumatic childhood, victimhood is not an option.

Is her rapist one of her young employees? Is it the hunky Christian from across the street? Is it her ex-husband? Or is it her lover, her best friend's husband? We'll find out, but this is not really a whodunit. Michele plays by her own rules-and so does Verhoeven, subverting our expectations at every turn as he explores pain, pleasure, power and twisted desires. Elle is shocking, suspenseful, perversely funny, brazenly amoral... even oddly uplifting.

"Perhaps the greatest [film] of Verhoeven's career." Guy Lodge, Variety