House of Pleasures
An exquisitely mournful portrait of women living, working, and enduring inside a Parisian brothel at the edge of disappearance.
Overview
Step into the hidden world of early 20th-century Paris, where desire and despair intertwine.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- melancholic
- oppressive
- sensual
- arthouse film night
- french cinema evening
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film’s intelligent, formally adventurous treatment of cinematic time, visual elegance, and morose portrait of a declining brothel.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The women’s earnings, expenses, debts, pregnancies, aging, and dependence on the madam define the brothel’s economic structure.
The film moves through recurring routines, tableaux, social episodes, and a contemporary coda in a manner critics identified as unusually attentive to cinematic time.
The brothel functions as both communal home and exploitative institution, containing friendships, affection, debt, violence, and dependency.
The elegant early-twentieth-century Parisian brothel is portrayed as luxurious yet jaded, morose, and threatened by financial instability.
Films like House of Pleasures, and why
The Damned
shared period setting, brothel-centered social drama, and melancholy examination of women constrained by economic and sexual power
The Piano
shared atmospheric historical drama, formal elegance, and focus on desire, social ritual, and constrained female lives
The Magdalene Sisters
shared intimate ensemble portrait of women in a closed social world shaped by sexuality, class, and exploitation
Belle de Jour
shared contemplative, visually stylized treatment of prostitution, desire, and commodified intimacy
Movie Details
- Director
- Bertrand Bonello
- Release Date
- 2011-09-21
- Runtime
- 126 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (289)
Cast
- Noémie Lvovsky
- Hafsia Herzi
- Céline Sallette
- Jasmine Trinca
- Adèle Haenel
- Alice Barnole
- Iliana Zabeth
- Judith Lou Lévy
- Pauline Jacquard
- Anaïs Thomas
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now, MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is House of Pleasures about?
- An exquisitely mournful portrait of women living, working, and enduring inside a Parisian brothel at the edge of disappearance.
- What is House of Pleasures like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of House of Pleasures as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is House of Pleasures violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in House of Pleasures as moderate.
- What did critics think of House of Pleasures?
- Critics broadly praised the film’s intelligent, formally adventurous treatment of cinematic time, visual elegance, and morose portrait of a declining brothel.
- Which films are like House of Pleasures?
- Films with a similar feel include The Damned, The Piano, The Magdalene Sisters, and Belle de Jour.
- How long is House of Pleasures?
- House of Pleasures runs 126 minutes.
- Where can I watch House of Pleasures?
- In United States, House of Pleasures streams on Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now, MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel.
