Angelina Jolie has never been interested in playing it safe. With Couture, her latest film, she steps into fashion’s most scrutinized arena and treats it with the seriousness it deserves. This is not a glossy postcard of Paris or a love letter to runway drama. It is a sharply observed look at ambition, vulnerability, and the complicated lives unfolding behind the scenes of Fashion Week.
Directed by Alice Winocour, Couture premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2025, instantly positioning itself as one of the most talked-about fashion films in recent years. Set against the relentless pace of Paris Fashion Week, the story follows three women whose lives intersect at a moment when everything feels both possible and fragile.
Jolie plays Maxine Walker, an independent American film director invited to create a project for a major French fashion house. The offer is lucrative, the timing complicated. Maxine is navigating a divorce, raising a teenage daughter, and preparing her next feature when she receives a life-altering medical diagnosis. Fashion, which she initially dismisses as superficial, becomes the unlikely setting for a personal reckoning. Jolie brings a quiet intensity to the role, letting pauses and glances do the heavy lifting rather than grand speeches.
The film’s emotional core is shared with two other women. Ella Rumpf plays Angèle, a veteran makeup artist finally putting her experiences into words while working in the shadows of the runway. Anyier Anei stars as Ada, an 18-year-old student newly discovered as a model and suddenly thrust into an industry she barely understands. Their stories unfold in parallel, showing how differently opportunity can land depending on where you stand.
What makes Couture resonate is how clearly it sees the fashion industry without flattening it. The glamour is there, but so is the exhaustion. Bodies are measured, images are controlled, and choices are often made under pressure rather than passion. Winocour keeps her camera steady, allowing moments of tension and tenderness to breathe. The result feels intimate without becoming insular.
The project is also deeply personal for Jolie. She has spoken openly about her connection to the film, shaped by her own family history with cancer, including the loss of her mother, Marcheline Bertrand. That lived experience gives Maxine’s story an emotional precision that feels natural rather than performed. Jolie does not play the icon here. She plays the woman behind it.
Fashion insiders will clock familiar details throughout the film. Chanel provided production support, with scenes filmed inside the brand’s Paris atelier. These moments are handled with restraint and realism, integrated into the narrative rather than showcased for spectacle. The clothes matter, but the people wearing and creating them matter more.
With a supporting cast that includes Louis Garrel and Vincent Lindon, Couture balances star power with substance. It asks difficult questions about control, creativity, and the cost of staying visible in an industry that thrives on constant renewal.
Set for a theatrical release later this year, Couture arrives as fashion films are being taken more seriously and scrutinized more closely. Jolie and Winocour offer something thoughtful, grounded, and quietly bold.
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