Paris Fashion Week serves as the backdrop for writer/director Alice Winocour’s latest film, Couture. The story centers on three women navigating the complexities of life while focusing on their work in an industry not known for its empathy. Angelina Jolie produces and stars in what is her follow-up outing to 2024’s biopic Maria, which saw the cultural icon embodying late opera singer Maria Callas. Couture is a quieter project for the veteran actor, but still gives her the chance to flex her ability to fall effortlessly into any character she’s given. While there are bright spots to be found throughout, the film stumbles into uneven territory at times, never fully threading the needle. 

The highlight of Couture is undoubtedly Jolie’s performance as Maxine, a Hollywood horror director who is helming the short film that will open Fashion Week. In the midst of the shoot, Maxine receives the devastating news that she has breast cancer and must imminently step away from her work to begin treatment. Jolie, unsurprisingly, handles the role with care and subtlety. Portraying someone suffering from cancer leaves the door open for big tears and over-the-top outbursts, but she never goes there. She processes Maxine’s growing grief in a way that feels internal and singular to her character. Other notably solid performances include Anyier Anei in her debut role as Ada, a new model who finds herself a fish out of water as she navigates the Paris catwalks, and Ella Rumpf as Angèle, a makeup artist searching for a bigger life beyond backstage dressing rooms. 

The script itself feels underdeveloped and is the weakest aspect of the film. There’s a sense that Winocour wants to intertwine the experiences of her three lead characters in a way that feels cohesive, but Couture doesn’t entirely get there. While the women do interact with each other from time to time, those interactions never feel like they say much about what they have in common, or what binds them together as pieces of their industry. Also, Jolie’s screentime seems to dominate, leaving Ada and Angèle’s storylines feeling patchy. Each woman has a tale worth telling, but they could have been told more effectively within their own dedicated projects. Additionally, the name of the film implies that the story will be insightful as to how the fashion industry may shape and mold those who participate in it, but that exploration only ends up developing at a surface level. Jolie delivers a line in the beginning of the film deeming fashion both “useless and necessary,” which could have been a great thesis for Couture if it had been explored more thoroughly.    

Winocour is by no means a newcomer to the industry, but this was my first experience with one of her films. Her direction here is steady and measured, particularly in Jolie’s scenes. She’s able to take a cancer storyline that could come off as broad and showy and turn it into something more intimate that viewers can lose themselves in. It’s obvious that she has an immense amount of trust in her actors, allowing the camera to capture their every expression, primarily through close-up shots that leave no room for them to hide. She also makes a solid effort to ground Couture within the fashion motif by interspersing shots of a dress being sewn, fabric being cut, and a makeup brush on a cheek among others. These moments don’t fully redeem the film, but they help to place us in the world of the film in a way that feels natural. 

For a story embedded in the fashion industry, there’s a fitting sense of style to be found within the film’s technical elements. The final act, highlighting Fashion Week’s opening show, offers prime opportunity for visual storytelling. The production design and lighting of the show itself feel appropriately dark and moody, echoing the underlying sense of melancholy the characters are experiencing as the culmination of their work over the previous weeks comes to fruition. Veteran  French costume designer Pascaline Chanvanne (whose recent work includes 2021’s Annette and Richard Linklater’s latest film, Nouvelle Vague) delivers on the high-brow costuming one would expect from a fashion-forward film set in Paris, giving the audience a front row seat to the runway. 

Overall, Couture is worth a watch for committed Jolie fans and fashion-on-film enthusiasts, but casual moviegoers may leave the theater feeling underwhelmed. 

Vertical will release Couture in theaters on July 26.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

• Oscar potential: The film may be too small and not strong enough to make its way to the Oscars, but I could squint and see a critic’s prize or Independent Spirit nomination for Jolie along the way.