The collaboration between Isabelle Huppert and Claire Denis the world had been dreaming of, arrived with this powerful story about the death throes of white colonialism. Denis—who grew up in French Africa—returns to her roots with this sublime, poetic yet nightmarish exploration of racial conflict.

A Claire Denis romcom? We’re sold! Subverting fairytale tropes with fine irony, this wonderfully unpredictable take on middle-age female desire and the volatility of emotions stars an exquisitely mercurial Juliette Binoche—searching for love, encountering mostly disappointment. Oh, and that ending!

Claire Denis explores the dark side of erotics with a fascination and fearlessness that few other filmmakers possess. Bristling with passion and pain, Chiara Mastroianni and Vincent Lindon are accessories to a festering spiral of unthinkable transgression in this sinister but thrilling noir.