The film has been generating significant buzz since it's debut at the Cannes Film Festival, and I am geniunely curious about the film that I apparently missed. Here's what I gathered: a woman (Michele, played by Isabelle Huppert) is raped after a home invasion. She is in shock, but quickly recovers and moves on with her life. She does not report this incident to the police, and she only casually tells her close friends about it over dinner days later. Michele is apparently unaffected by the act, and is only curious to find out who the man is. She works as the boss for a video gaming company, currently working on a new fantasy game for PS4 consoles. She receives calls from the rapist, mysterious emails, videos, all indicating that the man knows who she is. She suspects a coworker.
At the same time we learn about her biological father, a man locked away for life for unspeakable crimes he committed when she was a child. When it happened, she was looked at as a sociopathic little girl. Growing up, we see the hardened woman she has become, closed off to everyone (colleagues, lovers, her mother, and her son). On the outside, she has all the resemblance of a successful woman. Inside, she is a complete mystery.
I will admit that while the plot had me curious, the ultimate message of the story was a complete turn-off: that a woman who is raped would be so intrigued by her attacker that she would lure him back time and again to continue his assault against her. I will tell you that she finds out who committed these crimes against her, and yet she does nothing to end his violence. In fact, Michele later goes to his house willingly where she is subjected to further abuse in his basement. It's presented as a two-way relationship in which both parties require torment in order to feel a connection. Passivity is not enough, these two get off on control.
Verhoeven is no stranger to such topics, having directed English-language films like Basic Instinct and Showirls. Here, there is craft on display but very little to show for it. Even without the "thrilling" aspects, there are funny moments in the film, particularly around Michele's son and his relationship with his vile girlfriend. She gives birth to a black baby and the son is blissfully unaware that he is not the father. Michele meets with her mother frequently who is dating a man nearly 40 years her junior. In a world where crime is around every corner, Michele is unable to escape the madness in her own life.
Though I am not familiar with Huppert's career as an actress, I will admit she gives a mesmerizing performance. With deep voice and piercing stare, she becomes a woman who is both fearful and yet able to instill fear on those she oversees. There's a commitment to her performance that is never "over-acted" and yet hits all the right notes perfectly. Were it not for such a spectacular show of acting I don't think I could have brought myself to rate this film so high.
At this movie's core there is an ugly story. I can see the appeal of such a story, but with overly-gratuitous sexuality and shock value simply there for shock, I can't understand the final message. Who are we meant to root for, and who are we meant to hate? A movie can be well-acted and well-directed, but without characters that intrigue us even in the slightest, it makes for quite a bore in the theaters.
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