Perhaps figures like Verhoeven could take some inspiration from the director of BBC’s recent drama, Apple Tree Yard, Jessica Hobbs.

Sure, the rape scene in the series was graphic and nasty. Rape is graphic and nasty and feels ten times worse in real life as it does watching it on screen, I can assure you. But the focus in the episode was on the aftermath. It’s on the lasting impact on the character, on her family and her friends. That ripple effect that quietly laps at the fabrics of our communities, that seeps into wider society and becomes part of the fettered norm. It’s all very well to make mind-bending cinema designed to unnerve and challenge the audience. But what value does this really add to our understanding of anything, least of all rape?

I question the necessity of movies like Elle in a world in which the seemingly simple idea of consent is already so misunderstood.

Images: Elle

A rape survivor shares her views on Paul Verhoeven’s Elle