What is Elle rated, and is it OK for kids?

It is an R, with real scares, strong sex and nudity, and strong violence. Keep it for adults.

Elle (2016)

Film · 2h 11m · Rated R · In French

Drama, Foreign (non-English), Thriller

A woman's precisely ordered life unravels into a gritty, darkly comic game of cat and mouse.

Tense and suspenseful, with dark satire. A full-attention watch at a measured pace. Emotionally it is devastating.

Not on a US subscription service as of Oct 28, 2026.

Five more like this Get the app

Elle parents guide

Heads up on strong sex and nudity. That is past what the R on the box suggests. Beyond that, real scares and no jump scares.

Scare: Properly scary; Frightening, not just tense.
Jump scares: None noted
Gore: Light gore; Some blood or injury, briefly.
Violence: Strong violence; Violence is frequent or intense.
Sex and nudity: Strong; Strong means explicit or repeated sex, extended nudity, or sexual assault shown on screen, attempted or completed, even partly off screen. Any one of these is enough.
Language: Moderate; Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is Elle scary?: Yes, properly. Elle is the real thing without being an endurance test.
How gory is Elle?: Light gore and strong violence.
What is Elle rated, and is it OK for kids?: It is an R, with real scares, strong sex and nudity, and strong violence. Keep it for adults.

What is Elle about?

When Michèle, the CEO of a gaming software company, is attacked in her home by an unknown assailant, she refuses to let it alter her precisely ordered life. She manages crises involving family, all the while becoming engaged in a game of cat and mouse with her stalker.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

It leaves the ending open to interpretation.