Elle (2016)

Evocative and provocative, this intense tale revolves around Michèle Leblanc, a gritty woman, who is raped in her home by an assailant in a ski mask. She put herself together, cleans up the mess and resumes her life.

At her workplace, her male employees are alternately resentful of or infatuated with her. She carries on an affair with Robert, the husband of her friend and business partner Anna, and flirts with her married neighbor Patrick. Michèle feels detached from her son Vincent, who submits to his abusive, pregnant girlfriend Josie. She has a contentious relationship with her mother, Irène, whom she resents for her narcissism and involvements with younger men. She is also the daughter of an infamous mass murderer whose parole hearing is approaching. Haunted by her father's actions, Michèle is wary of law enforcement and does not report her rape to police.

Michèle grows increasingly suspicious of the men in her life. She receives harassing text messages from her assailant at a blocked number, indicating he is stalking her. She at first suspects Kurt, a particularly resentful employee, when a CGI animation of a monster raping her is emailed to everyone at the company. She pepper-sprays a man lurking outside her house, only to find out it is her ex-husband Richard, who was checking on her safety. She later discovers that another employee, who has been infatuated with her, created the animation but did not rape her.

On Christmas Eve, Irène suffers a stroke and begs her daughter to go see her father before she dies at hospital. Michèle is later attacked in her home by the assailant and, after stabbing his hand and unmasking him, learns that he is Patrick. Though she now knows his identity and realizes that he is able to enter her home despite having her locks changed, she still does not call the police and takes no measures to increase her home security.

Michèle decides to visit her father after his parole application is rejected, only to find that he has hanged himself hours before she arrives. Michèle suspects he killed himself so he could not bear to face her again. On the way home from the prison, she gets into a car crash in a secluded area. Rather than calling an ambulance, she first tries to call her friends, and then decides to call Patrick. After he rescues her from the car and bandages her, Michèle courts a brazenly dangerous sexual relationship with him. She engages in a vivid rape scenario while attempting to mitigate his inability to perform with a consenting woman. The two of them walk a delicate line in which Patrick has to feel as though he is raping Michèle, even though she consents to the roleplay.

Michèle grows increasingly disillusioned with her life leading up to the launch party for her company's new video game. She confesses to Anna that she was having an affair with Robert. As Patrick drives her home, Michèle professes that she is no longer in denial about their unhealthy relationship and claims she intends to call the police. She takes her time walking in front of his parked car after getting out, and then makes a point to leave her gate unlocked. Patrick enters and attacks her, in an ambiguous encounter that blurs the line between rape and consent—but Vincent, who was already in the house, sneaks up behind Patrick and bashes him in the back of the skull. Michèle appears to remain largely composed, but Patrick is seemingly confused as he dies.

Michèle speaks briefly with Patrick's wife Rebecca as she is moving out of the neighbourhood. Rebecca is placid and expresses gratitude to Michèle for being able to temporarily 'satisfy Patrick's needs' – implying that she was aware on some level that the two were sexually involved and that Patrick had inclinations she couldn't satisfy. Vincent is now more assertive in his relationship and career, while Michèle reconciles with both Josie and Anna; the latter offers to move in with her now that they have severed their relationships with Robert.