cinema / The Richest Woman in the World

Based on the true story of Lillian Bettencourt, The Richest Woman in the World is an extravagant theatre of cruelty, where three people are searching for love, but are unsure neither how to receive it nor how to give it. Marianne (Isabelle Huppert) has inherited a cosmetics empire and runs it with consummate skill. She is not merely rich, nor very rich, nor even very, very rich — she is simply the richest woman in the world. Isolated in her ivory tower, Marianne is inaccessible to ordinary mortals. All her relationships are shaped by power and governed by the logic of transactions. Her daughter Frédérique has been raised in luxury and already possesses everything money can buy. The only thing she lacks is her mother's affection. When Pierre-Alain, a capricious photographer and former writer for whom life is an endless theatrical performance, appears on the scene, Marianne sees in him a last chance for salvation from an existence entirely determined by her class and her name. At the same time, her relatives see him as a petty fraud who will not hesitate to exploit her enormous wealth and alienate her from her family if necessary…

Festivals and awards: 2025 Official Selection, Cannes Film Festival: Nomination for the Palme d'Or 2025 Nomination for the Audience Award, Warsaw Film Festival

France, Belgium, 2025, 121 min. Genre: drama Director: Thierry Klifa Screenwriters: Cédric Anger, Jacques Fieschi, Thierry Klifa Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Marina Foïs, Anne Brochet, Raphaël Personnaz, André Marcon, and others Language: French Subtitles: Bulgarian Inspired by the true story of Liliane Bettencourt, heiress to the L’Oréal fortune.