Angelina Jolie’s new film Couture, directed by Alice Winocour, is about more than fashion. Set during Paris Fashion Week, the film explores mortality, women’s bodies, identity, and the pressure women face in industries built around appearance.Jolie plays Maxine, an American filmmaker working on a fashion project who receives a breast cancer diagnosis. As she struggles to process the news, the film follows two other women whose lives connect to the same world in different ways.
Ada is a young South Sudanese model trying to build a future in the fashion industry, while Angèle is a French makeup artist and aspiring writer working behind the scenes. Although their stories are different, the film shows how all three women are navigating pressure, vulnerability, and the need to define themselves beyond how others see them.Rather than focusing on fashion as glamour, Couture uses the setting of Fashion Week to show the reality behind the industry.
The film looks at how women’s bodies are constantly judged, controlled, and displayed, whether through beauty standards, work, or illness.The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it received attention for its quiet storytelling and Jolie’s performance. Many viewers praised the film for balancing the world of fashion with deeper themes surrounding survival, identity, and the body. With its U.S. theatrical release set for June 26, 2026, Couture stands out as a film that uses fashion as a backdrop to tell a more personal story about three women and the experiences that connect them.
