House of Tolerance

2011

2 hr. 2 min.

Drama

List

83%

30 Reviews

Tomatometer

63%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A young woman begins a new life at the Apollonide bordello, a high-class brothel in Paris.

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Premiered Dec 08

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Critics Consensus

An atmospheric study of the world of brothels, House of Tolerance digs beyond the corseted courtesans and lingers like the languid days it depicts.

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Cristina B

The beautiful actresses did an impeccable job with a rather mopey, maudlin and monotonous plot. I didn't hate the storyline, which vaguely follows the psychological and sexual evolution of a character called The Laughing One/Jewess, and I praise the bold premise of exploring prostitues' sexuality and inner world, but I agree with other reviewers said: The soundtrack was cringe in places and the character development was spread thin among too many characters and weak. I love some of the themes here but I found myself wishing I could "unsee" certain scenes.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/11/24

Full Review

Meydiana R

Meh Warning: Spoilers Interesting setting, boring story The setting was interesting, both location- and time-wise. However the story is incredibly disappointing. The plot drifts throughout and ultimately goes nowhere.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

11/11/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Interesting setting, boring story The setting was interesting, both location- and time-wise. However the story is incredibly disappointing. The plot drifts throughout and ultimately goes nowhere.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Tony S

Superbly directed and beautiful picture but which leaves you ultimately indifferent. The theme of decadence of a traditional brothel should've been the main focus, not blurry afterthought, meandering in the background, instead we get monotone melodrama about day-to-day in world's oldest profession but then again, director might've known better, than to pretend he can say anything that hasn't been said about this soul-sucking and hedonistic racket.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/28/21

Full Review

Audience Member

It does a great job at humanizing prostitutes in the past and present, as not much has changed unfort because none of the laws have changed. The main diff I believe is that instead of being in brothels most prostitutes just live on the streets nowadays-which I think is even worse in many ways. In my head I always sorta looked at prostitution in a lighter way, but seeing this film it does a good job at showing the sadness, oddness, n boredom of it. Just like back in the old days prostitutes are still at risk for diseases, being tortured/killed/raped, disrespected, and dealing with addiction. A much sadder film than I thought it would be and in the beginning I couldn't figure out if it was a horror or sexy film-neither it is a drama. At times the film was a bit over the top with drama (crying semen) and a bit too artsy fartsy for me (couldn't stand the current pop music)/somex boring as u are just drifting in n out of scenes from the brothel never developing on any one character, but mostly I enjoyed it. Whats scary is the Jewess I thought looked most like me and then she gets all cut up I'm like oh crap of course.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

scott m

Depressing story about prostitutes at a French brothel at the turn of the twentith century. The girls do it to be free and independent as one girl says. This isn't that at all. Strange that a few of them even believe that the guys they sleep with for money might still come save them.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Bertrand Bonello

Director

Noémie Lvovsky

Marie-France

Hafsia Herzi

Samira

Céline Sallette

Clotilde

Jasmine Trinca

Julie

Adèle Haenel

Léa

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Stanley Kauffmann

The New Republic

Nothing in this film comes as a surprise, but Bonello's intent to show the place backstage as well as onstage is fulfilled and pertinent, even though the period setting gives the picture a curio air.

Jun 19, 2013

Full Review

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

It's about forcing us to think about people we never would otherwise and seeing their struggles and humanity.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 29, 2012

Full Review

Jon Frosch

The Atlantic

What gives the film its haunting pull, as well as its feminist undercurrent, is the filmmaker's palpable compassion for these women.

Mar 7, 2012

Full Review

Diego Batlle

Otroscines.com

Audacious. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 8/10

Oct 4, 2022

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

At once repellant and enthralling,exotic and familiar, but never anything short of fascinating.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 6, 2019

Full Review

Daniel Kasman

MUBI

Yet there is something else here, mysterious, practically intangible within the confines both of the brothel and the genre, something that leaves the film a lingering quality like smoke left hanging in a vacated room, traces, ghosts, remnants.

Nov 16, 2017

Full Review

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Synopsis

A young woman begins a new life at the Apollonide bordello, a high-class brothel in Paris.

Director: Bertrand Bonello
Screenwriter: Bertrand Bonello, Bertrand Bonello
Production Co: arte France Cinéma, Soficinéma 6 Développement, MEDIA Programme of the European Union, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), Cinémage 5, My New Picture, Les Films du Lendemain, Ciné+, Canal+, Région Ile-de-France, Soficinéma 7, Arte France
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 22, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $19.3K

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