Angelina Jolie Stars in Alice Winocour's Flimsy Fashion Drama 'Couture'

Alice Winocour's 'Couture', set in the Parisian high-fashion scene, stars Angelina Jolie as American film director Maxine Walker, who is hired to direct a runway show for an unnamed fashion house (filmed at Chanel's offices). The film's compressed 105-minute runtime crams multiple storylines involving four women: Maxine, who is diagnosed with breast cancer; Ada (Anyier Anei), a South Sudanese model; Angèle (Ella Rumpf), a makeup artist; and Christine (Garance Marillier), a seamstress. The movie features strong supporting performances from Grégoire Colin as the creative director, Vincent Lindon as Dr. Laurent Hansen, and Louis Garrel as the cinematographer. Winocour's direction is criticized as superficial, with undeveloped subplots and unintended comedy, though a climactic slow-motion runway scene in bad weather offers a brief audiovisual transcendence. The review notes Jolie's personal connection to the subject (her 2013 double mastectomy) and questions what the film might have been had she directed it herself.