London Film Festival Day 4: Manchester By The Sea, Elle & Graduation

Isabelle Huppert gives a performance for the ages as a rape victim who progressively turns the tables on her attacker in Paul Verhoeven's (Robocop, Basic Instinct) first film in a decade.

Though it would be easy to dismiss Elle as erotic thriller trash, it's the film's layers of psychology and brave engagement with an incredibly uncomfortable conversation that allow it to amount to more than just another rape-revenge flick.

On top of that, Huppert delivers a home-run of a central performance, ambiguous enough that audiences will be left with plenty to debate once the credits roll. And of course, Verhoeven revels in the subject matter and makes the most of it while skilfully avoiding an exploitative tone.

Rating: A grim premise is imbued with unexpected humour, a mesmerising central performance and light-footed direction to make Elle decidedly more than its familiar plot might suggest. It doesn't begin to live up to the overzealous five-star reviews that came out of Cannes and Toronto, but it's outrageously entertaining stuff all the same. 7/10