User reviews

Astonishing feature debut by Australian director Josephine Mackerras, seen at SXSW (with an Q&A with the director, the film was the winner of Narrative Feature Competition at SXSW): Alice (a remarkable performance by first-time actress Emilie Piponnier) is happily married with a caring husband and a sweet little boy. Suddenly, her husband disappears, leaving her with her son, no money and a heavy mortgage on their apartment. She finds out, her husband was living a secret second life, spending all of her money on escort girls. Out of desperation and the perspective of becoming homeless, she starts working as a high-end escort girl herself. She befriends with a fellow escort girl, earns enough money to keep her flat, and gains a sense of independence and self-determination she never had before in her marriage. - The movie is absolutely stunning, a fascinating story that kept me captivated all through the end, beautifully shot, and an highly atmospheric soundtrack. In many parts, it is extremely funny (minor spoiler: e.g. the first scene in the hotel), sometimes horrifying (the phone call with Alice's mother). Probably shot with a small budget, the movie looks really expensive--the art direction, the camerawork, the soundtrack are skilfully set up. Emilie Piponnier impressively plays the role of a young woman finding her inner voice. Strongly recommended!

An enjoyable film with an unusual storyline. Good acting by a cast I'm not familiar with and it's an easy watch with some interesting twists. A solid 7 in my book.

Here I am two years on writing a review. A seriously worthy one. This film is hands down one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in the last two years, and I've seen hundreds.

Having nothing to watch I put this on. I don't speak French so had the chore of handling subtitles throughout it's length. Well it was a roller coaster ride of excitement, suspense, laughter, sadness, awe, disbelief and enjoyment. It was almost perfectly blended into a tight tale of despair, personal growth and becoming.

The screenplay was excellent, as is the direction and general production. The acting is nothing short of superb and the lead. "Emilie Piponnier" should get an Oscar for her performance, or at the very least the French equivalent. To be fair, all the performances are good, and I was totally immersed in this movie to the point where I watched another French film after just to prolong the moment.

Ok its not perfect. One development in the story niggled me as soon as it occurred, and for a film so good I'm surprised the writer chose this avenue for the plot since there were so many other possible scenarios that would have worked more believably and effectively that the one chosen. I'll describe it like this - If I left my husband having found out he was a dirty cop, and I then decided to pull bank jobs to survive or stay financially viable. I am NOT going to ask my husband to babysit my child! Not for any number of excellent reasons the situation presents. That is just asking for trouble, and a little ridiculous if I'm honest. Babysitters are not Truffles and what would otherwise have been absolute perfection was a tad tainted by this development.

Additionally, the sexual encounters in the movie are somewhat... I think 'Cartoonish' is the best way to describe them. I'm not sure if the writer/director has done any real research into high end escorts, but I think they have confused the establishment with one catering for men interested in bondage, or perhaps the 'M' in S&M. The notion that the clientele for high end escorts primarily consist of sexually inept momma's boys with low esteem that all come to fruition at the mere sight of a woman in lingerie is a far stretch from reality, but I'm going to give a little leeway here since some 'poetic license' is needed for the film to work.

In spite of these short comings I'm giving the film 8/10, because, I still enjoyed it so much. Besides, it's fantastic production well worth seeing, and all this coming from a guy who appreciates a good film, but would normally skip a film of this genre and not given it a chance in the normal course of things. Prejudice can be a hindrance to enjoyment.

Do not be fooled by the poster (or the image one can see here with the title) - because this is not a titilating affair ... this is not here to excite you (pun intended), but rather tell a story. Actually one of the first ... let's call it sexual encounters might bring memories to some from their teenage escapedes ... remembering that there was almost no fun involved and a lot of things that went wrong. Only good thing here: patience that has developed over the years .. and luck to some degree.

Because this is about escort and not depraved acts. So if you are into a story of a struggling woman and her not reliable husband ... and their kid ... well you are in the right place. Again just don't expect this to give you excitement in a different way than it actually does. This is pure drama ... and a good one at that. Well played, well structured ... pacing may not be your thing, but it chooses to go this way ...

A petit femmes revange,with a real life story feel can be reckognized by everyone if chopped into chapters. a good watch for every cheated women and if you wish to have taste of the bitter pill called love. i will say the economic part hauled me worst.

a recommend, love from the grumpy old MAN.

Greetings again from the darkness. So much trust goes into a marriage. We try to choose someone we can imagine growing old with, and also whose morals are in line with our own ... especially if raising kids is part of the plan. Of course sometimes things don't work out as hoped, and writer-director Josephine Mackerras shows us what happens when things go horribly wrong - when the person we have trusted is so drastically different than the person we believed them to be.

Alice (Emilie Piponnier) and Francois (Martin Swabey) appear to be a normal wife and husband raising a cute little boy named Jules. Alice is a beautiful and caring person, whose goodness shines through in her smile. Francois is the charming type who recites literary passages at dinner parties before planting a passionate kiss on his wife in front of everyone at the table. One day, Alice's credit card is declined which leads her down the dark trail no one hopes to travel. Francois has maxed out the cards and emptied the bank account. Worse yet, their apartment is nearing foreclosure from lack of payments.

Further research leads Alice to Elegant Escorts and the realization that her beloved husband has been leading a secret double life - one that has left her penniless with a young child. What happens next is quite surprising. Sweet Alice proves to be much tougher than she appears. After some terrible guidance from her mother, Alice takes control of the situation in order to save her home and provide for her son. Her friend and mentor in her new vocation is Lisa (Chloe Boreham), who offers tips and emotional support. This gets her through the clumsy and awkward initial attempts at carrying out her new duties. Soon she believes the plan is working and she'll be able to save her home, but alas, Francois reappears and complicates the situation.

This is the first feature film from Ms. Mackerras and the film is a Grand Jury prize nominee at SXSW. The obvious comparison here is to Louis Bunuel's masterpiece BELLE DE JOUR (1967) starring Catherine Deneuve, with the obvious difference being one character was bored and craved attention, while another was desperate to save her home. Self-discovery plays a role for both. The tagline for this film is: "She did everything right, until it all went wrong", and it's a reminder that often we find the inner strength needed during times of crisis. The film also offers up a nice moral of the story in noting the cleansing power of nature. It's a terrific little film that flashes significant talent from filmmaker Josephine Mackerras and lead actress Emilie Piponnier.

I guess it's an OK movie, it wasn't all that great nor that bad either. Changes of tone on the main character throughout the film was really good. This movie falls into the ultimate trap of depicting prostitution, media and movies tend to depict prostitution in one or two ways. The media either slander prostitution or romanticize the act. The story is bit out of touch, its clearly far from what actually happening in the real world, I mean lets be honest if a woman had a choicr they would rather chose a more respectable job rather than getting penetrated by a stranger every day just so they can pay their bills. The movie also shed a light on the double standards against women regarding sex works and child custody.

Acting in the movie is a hit or miss, sometimes the actors deliver and sometimes its just eh. Overall its an OK movie.

I don't know why it has the "Comedy" tag on IMDb. It's no comedy, not even dramedy. This is the drama that can actually happen in real life. It's the struggle of families, the struggle of some addiction, the struggle to find your identity, the struggle to fight.

The story is very well written, albeit somewhat made for the main character to get even with her husband. The acting is quite good, really good actually if we look at Emilie Piponnier and especially Chloé Boreham.

It's a movie for mature people who know what life can be and how difficult it can be.

It's a very realistic drama.

To sum up the movie: simplistic unbelievable story, amateurish direction and actresses that don't match what they are supposed to do on the screen. This is a colorless and unremarkable, slow, boring and predictable movie. Not worth watching.

Alice is living a simple and happy life with her loving husband and a little son until her world turns upside down. Her husband disappears with all her money and as she is behind on mortgage repayments she is about to be evicted from her apartment. In order to save her home she needs to pay an exorbitant amount of money every two weeks. There's only one way she can make that much money and that is to become a high class hooker.

In the beginning of the movie session the director Josephine Mackerras expressed her concern that the movie may not live up to everyone's expectations. "This is a very small movie!" she said. It seems pretty big to me.

In fact this is probably the most focused and beautiful writing I have experienced in film in years. The script here is everything, simple but multilayered, with relatable slightly damaged characters we can identify with, with just enough tension to be thrilling and not going over the top, hitting all the right spots of dramatic, humorous and even slightly scary along the way.

Mackerras managed to squeeze many ideas into the film, yes it's about feminism but it's also about family, growing up, forgiveness and life choices. And like all movies made in Paris it's a little bit about Paris.

Emilie Piponnier is an inspired casting choice for loyal and stoic Alice, a loving wife who always has her husband's back but who doesn't flinch when hard choices are to be made. Piponnier has the ability to transform from girl next door pretty to stunningly beautiful, the same way she moves from fragility to strength delivering a complex character that carries the story forward.

ALICE is a thoroughly engaging movie with a satisfying finale that makes the audience cheer. If it's not a masterpiece of indie movie making it is bloody close to being one.

I've never tryed to go with an escort.

Well, this movie inspired me to :-) Very deep, realistic, awesome actress, good story.

Deeply recommended!

To represent that's what high class prostitution is like is absurd. To partially justify what Alice is doing it's shown from the meetings with clients and conversations with her escort friend that prostitution is an easy and simple way to earn a living with no repercussions. You walk in, it takes 5 minutes, and you leave with thousands of dollars. "What's the big deal" the filmmakers are asking. Seriously? Men are not paying that much money for that. They want the experience of a lifetime. She would have to be very experienced and work a hell of a lot harder than that. And not too say the actresses aren't attractive, but they would have to be way better looking also. Those men in the movie can pay 50 for what they got from her. Ridiculous!

This film was so well acted and directed it really drew me in right from the off. I really felt sorry for Alice,discovering her husband had blown all her money left to her on seeing prostitutes. I rooted for her all through the film,a superb lead performance,though to be honest everyone acted their socks off in this one. Best film i have seen in ages. Well worth a look.

Saw this at Raindance, London and it is a superb film of a woman discovering herself and also a good portrait of Sex Work which is not always the grim experience in the press

Impossible to watch, why would anyone want to watch such story? Lasted 36 minutes. Waste of time! Not a comedy, not a drama, not sure about the genre. Cringy prostitution flick. The story is too unlikely to be taken seriously, but not funny enough to enjoy either. It made me want to take a shower and never watch another French movie again.

Very good acting. Not often you see an Australian film made in Paris with French actors; also Franco-Australian and polyglot Martin George Swabey.

It has a bittersweet feel to it all

At first you have a very yucky ad-like perfect nuclear family; then it blows up; well we did say nuclear; always a possibility ...

The main actress is plausible in most scenes; plausible as an angelic housewife; plausible as a high-class escort. The main actor plays the twisted self-pitying soul to perfection.

It unrolls effortlessly and STYLISHLY all the way through

I personally often accuse films of lacking rhythm; lacking beat. This one has oodles of both. But a slow lancinating one.

The only slight blemish if wishing to be picky is that it is a film where men are untrustworthy bestards (sic) but you would not have a story otherwise; touch of the Girl Power if one considers that selling one's God-given charms is a liberation; which is intimated at least once ... or twice

Anyway overall an UNUSUAL piece an accomplished piece; we hope the director Josephine Mackerras will strike again soon

This first feature film by Josephine Mackerras is a beautiful story of initiation about a woman who takes back her life after everything has been stolen by her husband. The subject, however touchy, is treated in a forward-thinking and complex way. Mackerras has obviously put all her heart and voice in her work. She keeps away from all judgment and leads us irresistibly alongside the heroine, Alice. This leading role is remarkably interpreted, and the whole cast is worth an Oscar. Mackerras' direction of actors is of rare precision and richness, which leads us to laugh and cry with particularly endearing characters. The photography is gorgeous. It's a film about love of life, women's empowerment, and the strength it takes to get up -- a film for our time.

I just recall this film felt like it was 30 minute, not a second of inattentiveness, it has you on the edge of your seat from go to finish. I saw it 3 months ago and I'm still thinking about it, it has a lot to say. I will be following Mackerras's career very closely, definitely one to watch!

Alice is a film that everyone needs to see. It thrives on its ability to look without judgement on the decisions that women make for themselves whilst also looking at the strength of female friendship. This film is extraordinary and is able to explore ideas that many filmmakers dare not touch for fear of retribution, and it's highly entertaining at the same time!

I almost didn't watch this, especially because it was labeled a drama AND a comedy. The synopsis sounded pretty serious, and if they tried to play it for laughs I probably would not have liked it. But I read the other reviews here that said it was NOT a comedy at all. And they were all right. This movie is not a comedy at all and it the entire film is a (very good) drama.

Alice is a different take on prostitution movies and the three lead actors are all outstanding and all of the supporting roles are excellent. The script, cinematography, editing and production design were top notch. For a movie involving prostitution there's very little explicit sex...I actually think there should have been a little more, since the contrast between being a mother and being a call girl should have been played up a bit more.

One quibble: Alice should have used a nanny service instead of resorting to allowing her awful husband to babysit. In a city as large as Paris, there must be many resources that would not have cost a lot of money that cater to families (and single mothers) that have hectic, weird schedules and need to arrange for babysitting on short notice. Alice's timelines for such arrangements could have been negotiated at the very beginning of her relationships with her management.

But that said, the movie was nicely paced and the characters evolved in a realistic way. The ending was a bit far fetched, but I won't add that to any quibbles, because it was still justified.