Juliette Binoche smolders once again.

• Position: What's New? - Malgoska Szumowska's movie 'Elles' - Brief article

A provocative and raw exploration of female sexuality, director Malgoska Szumowska's "Elles" paints an unromantic picture of upper-crust domesticity through the vibrant eroticism of prostitution. Vacillatating between opposing worlds defined alternatively by sexual freedom and constraint, "Elles" stars Juliette Binoche ("the English Patient" and "Chocolat") as Anne, a well-off Parisian journalist investigating the lives of two student prostitutes (Joanna Kulig and Anais Demoustier) for a magazine article.

What begins as a routine assignment shaped by preconceived notions quickly turns personal, as Anne is drawn into the lives of these fiercely independent young women and forced to confront her own sexual fears and desires. A bold examination of poverty and...