A philosophy graduate and film enthusiast, Hélène Frappat is a novelist and film critic. She has chosen to seek "truth" in fiction.
As a novelist, she is the author of, among other works, Par effraction (Allia, 2009), Inverno (Actes Sud, 2011), Lady Hunt (Actes Sud, 2013), N'oublie pas de respirer (Actes Sud, 2014), Le mont Fuji n'existe pas (Actes Sud, 2021), Trois femmes disparaissent (Actes Sud, 2023), and Nerona (Actes Sud, 2025).
A film critic for La Lettre du cinéma and Cahiers du cinéma, she has also authored Jacques Rivette, secret compris (Cahiers du cinéma, 2001), Trois films fantômes de Jacques Rivette (Cahiers du cinéma, 2002), Roberto Rossellini (Cahiers du cinéma / Le Monde, 2008), and Toni Servillo, le nouveau monstre (Séguier, 2018). In 2023, she published the philosophical essay Le Gaslighting ou l'art de faire taire les femmes with Éditions de l'Observatoire.
Hélène Frappat is also a translator, notably of Laura Lippman, Ann Patchett, and Tony Burgess.
