At the start of this feminist firestorm from France, 12-year-old Anaïs and her 15-year-old sister Elena live in wary coexistence. On a family vacation, Elena (Mesquida, who looks like a French Mena Suvari) flirts with a college student. When he pressures her into sex, she at first shrinks away in fear, asking him whether he loves her. Anaïs (Reboux), the less pretty sister, says she wants to lose her virginity without such an emotional to-do. Yet she turns her face to the wall and weeps when, in a scene that induces cringes, Elena and the student make love in the girls' shared room.This unsettling interplay of harshness and tenderness ends in appalling violence. (Warning: The movie is very tough to watch.) If the finale seems implausible, it's just director Catherine Breillat's unapologetically brutal way of driving home the girls' powerlessness. (Not rated)
Bottom Line: Unforgettable sister act