Paul Verhoeven just can’t leave well enough alone—which is one reason, whether you love him or hate him, to pay attention. Isabelle Huppert, in all her autumnal glory, stars as an upper-class Parisian who’s attacked and raped in her home and lives to tell the tale. The picture is a mine-field of complex sexual politics, and Verhoeven and his star creep to the edge of the boundaries of good taste (and maybe beyond) in their exploration of the wild unknowability of women’s sexual desire. This is one of the boldest, most challenging movies of the year—and, when you least expect it, one of the funniest.
