By means of an ultrafast opto-acoustic technique we study the nanoindentation of thin chromium films on sapphire substrates using a ceramic ball bearing. Acoustic pulses at 40 GHz returning from the film–indenter interface allow the film indentation profiles to be probed to sub-nanometer resolution over contact areas 25 μm in radius. The deformation of the films during loading is thereby revealed. Furthermore, thermal wave imaging of the contact at megahertz frequencies is simultaneously achieved.