http://www.elles.com.au Copyright Palace Films, Australia. This provocative, adults-only drama stars Academy Award-winner Juliette Binoche as a journalist whose life choices are put to the test when she uncovers some discomforting home truths. Mother of two Anne (Binoche), a journalist for French Elle, leads a perfectly bourgeois life in Paris, juggling family, work and leisure. Her research for an article on student prostitution cracks this serenity, as she meets Alicja (Joanna Kulig), a Polish student whose persona is as troubling as it is seductive, and Charlotte (Anaïs Demoustier), a somewhat reserved French woman who seems to exercise her trade as part of a bitter social struggle. Little by little, the stories of the two young women emerge. Where Anne expected to find poverty and distress, she instead discovers a silent determination, and is forced to question her most intimate convictions about her roles as a wife, a mother, and a writer, about money, family and sex. Striking a delicate balance between erotic and intimate, filmmaker Szumowska deftly depicts the entangled female experience as it exists within the domestic sphere. Exquisite and engrossing as always, Juliette Binoche, in her bravest role to date, is radiant as the sophisticated and sexually charged Anne. "This is Binoche's movie. She does wonders in a performance that is entirely without vanity. A final scene to die for." Susan G. Cole, NOW MAGAZINE "The deeply felt moment-to-moment experience of a woman...played with astonishing sensitivity and commitment by Binoche." Stephen Holden, THE NEW YORK TIMES "More than mere titillation, Szumowska's story resonates. Binoche exposes herself in a role more vulnerable than most Hollywood stars would ever allow themselves to appear. Though Szumowska doesn't shy away from the sex, her sensual tale is most intriguing for its exploration of a middle-aged woman's existential crisis." T'Cha Dunlevy, MONTREAL GAZETTE "A sharp honest take on female friendship and sexuality... Elles, which is notably female-driven from script to screen, richly explores the landscape of desire." Susanna Locascio, FILMMAKER MAGAZINE

• published: 29 Nov 2012
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