89
Metascore
36 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The Film StageGiovanni Marchini CamiaThe Film StageGiovanni Marchini CamiaElle would be unimaginable without Huppert, who delivers a performance of such virtuosity that she turns what is essentially a raving sociopath into one of the most alluring protagonists in recent memory.
- 100The GuardianXan BrooksThe GuardianXan BrooksThe film is utterly gripping and endlessly disturbing.
- 100VarietyGuy LodgeVarietyGuy LodgeKnowingly incendiary but remarkably cool-headed, and built around yet another of Isabelle Huppert’s staggering psychological dissections, Paul Verhoeven’s long-awaited return to notional genre filmmaking pulls off a breathtaking bait-and-switch: Audiences arriving for a lurid slab of arthouse exploitation will be taken off-guard by the complex, compassionate, often corrosively funny examination of unconventional desires that awaits them.
- 90The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerIt’s all quite perverse for sure, which of course is no surprise coming from either the actress or the director, though what’s welcome about Elle is the way they combine their talents to make a film that hardly skimps on the sex, violence and sadism, yet ultimately tells a story about how one woman uses them all to set herself free.
- 90Screen DailyLisa NesselsonScreen DailyLisa NesselsonThis audacious, irony-laced, convention-jumbling tale is just plain fun to watch.
- 83The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica KiangThe list of the film’s transgressions against the culturally acceptable is almost gratuitously long. But the spine of self-aware intelligence that runs through even its most grotesque, exploitative, and offensive twists, and the basically incredible, irreplaceable central performance from Isabelle Huppert, make this queasily hilarious mass of contradictions just about cohere.
- 80The TelegraphRobbie CollinThe TelegraphRobbie CollinElle forces you to critically confront every myth it indulges, every cliché it embraces and subverts.
- 40CineVueJohn BleasdaleCineVueJohn BleasdaleThere is much to like about Elle, first and foremost a witty and bold performance from Huppert and the generally seasoned ensemble.