Traumatised children, traumatised adults, and sado-masochism by Rosslyn Hyams in Cannes Cast member Isabelle Huppert poses during a photocall for the film "Elle" in competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes AFP Traumatised children make traumatised adults in Elle, which screened at Cannes on Saturday. French actress Isabelle Huppert is close to perfect in the lead role. It’s the last film in the running for the 2016 Golden Palm. Michèle (Isabelle Huppert) is well-off about 60, separated from her husband (Charles Berling), jealous of his new girlfriend, a bank for her son and codirector of her own video games firm alongside her best friend, Anna (Anne Consigny) whose husband is her lover. Michèle is the centre of the film and she plays with the other characters, as a cat would with an injured bird. Two stories converge in Elle, a psychological thriller based on a novel called Oh by Philip Djian. Huppert’s attitude and reactions to being raped and to men are partially explained by the story of childhood trauma caused by her father who is elderly and in jail. Director Paul Verhoeven and Huppert give some of their best in this film. Huppert convincingly plays a woman whose emotional reactions are not the same as other people's. She announces having been raped in the same tone she might use if she’d missed a bus. On top of rape, the film adds a layer of sadomasochism. Verhoeven juxtaposes characters who live by their Christian faith (Rebecca played by Virgine Efira), the morals and the amorals, such as Huppert who is seen to be driven solely by her libido. The image of new technology takes an interesting hit in Elle. Within the windowless, hermetic fantasy world of video games, it’s all about money, consumption and power.