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Alice Winocour’s latest film, Couture, had its European premiere at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, placing itself in the spotlight with its intimate portrayal of womanhood, illness and resilience. Starring Angelina Jolie in a role that echoes parts of her real life, the drama delves into the unexpected collision between glamour and personal trauma.
An American Filmmaker in the Heart of Paris
At the center of Couture is Maxine, played by Angelina Jolie, a 40-something American director who’s been invited to create a short film for Paris Fashion Week. What seems like a dream commission quickly turns into something much deeper. Maxine receives a breast cancer diagnosis just as she’s immersed in the spectacle and surface of high fashion. The contrast between the glossy world of haute couture and a body facing its fragility becomes the film’s emotional core.
Jolie’s performance, from early reactions, is nuanced, internal, and deeply personal. It’s hard not to connect her portrayal to her own experience with breast cancer prevention. This is the first time she’s taken on such a visibly vulnerable role in years, and seeing her on screen like this carries real emotional weight.
New Faces and Overlooked Professions
The film isn’t just about Maxine. Couture brings together three paths: Maxine’s, Ada’s, and Angèle’s. Ada, portrayed by Anyier Anei, is a young South Sudanese model recently arrived in Paris. Navigating unfamiliar territory, she brings in a fresh but uncertain perspective. Angèle, played by Ella Rumpf, is a French makeup artist who dreams of becoming a writer. To read Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton face off in 2026’s Apex trailer
These characters offer different views of a world often presented through a single lens. They’re women often kept behind the curtain — in fitting rooms, backstage, or just outside the spotlight.
Louis Garrel joins the cast as Maxine’s cinematographer and love interest. His presence adds a subtle layer of comfort and intimacy to Maxine’s journey, but the film’s emotional foundation remains firmly rooted in the connections between the three women.
Not Just a Fashion Story
Alice Winocour insisted during the San Sebastian press conference: Couture is not a fashion film. Despite its name and setting, it’s about trauma, care, and intimate forms of solidarity that form between women.
In French, “couture” means both fashion design and surgical stitches. That layered symbolism runs through the entire film. It’s about rebuilding, about closing wounds but also what remains visible. This idea threads through Maxine’s story and the lives of the women she crosses paths with.
For Winocour, the inspiration was personal: one day, she left a hospital only to find herself in the middle of a fashion show. That sudden contrast struck her — the body under treatment colliding with an industry built around outward beauty. That emotional shock became the story’s seed. To read Ranking Shyamalan’s Hits: Which Film Defines His Legacy?
Angelina Jolie: A Role That Hits Close to Home
At the heart of the film is Jolie, and at the heart of Jolie’s performance is her own truth. At the press conference, she spoke candidly about her family history with cancer and her preventive double mastectomy in 2013 after testing positive for the BRCA1 gene. “Those are my choices,” she said, “I don’t say everybody should do it that way, but it’s important to have the choice.”
Hearing her connect the film to her life experience gave the project even more resonance. As a viewer, it’s impossible not to feel that energy on screen. There’s a quiet strength, a tenderness in her portrayal of Maxine that doesn’t need to be overstated.
Winocour and Jolie: A Creative Bond
Winocour talked about the strong connection she built with Jolie during this project. “We were really lucky to have the possibility to do something out of our stitches, to tell a story,” she explained. And you feel it watching the film: a shared vision, a mutual trust in telling a story that doesn’t shout but whispers with honesty.
Winocour’s desire was clear: to shine a light on the women we don’t see. The ones who sew, who blend foundation, who help others shine while hiding their own truths. It’s a film that takes you backstage — not just of fashion, but of lives.
Couture paints a fragile and fierce portrait of womanhood, threading together stories that speak to care, silence, and survival.
The film explores:
- Body image in the face of illness
- Unseen female labor in the fashion world
- Intergenerational and intercultural solidarity
- Artistic creation as a form of healing
For someone like me, who watches films with emotion first, Couture felt sincere and necessary. It doesn’t try to impress with visuals — though the fashion world backdrop offers striking images — but instead chooses intimacy and empathy. It’s precisely that choice that stays with you long after the lights come back on.
