France | Belgium 2025
Opening April 23, 2026

Directed by: Thierry Klifa
Writing credits: Cédric Anger, Jacques Fieschi, Thierry Klifa
Principal actors: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Marina Fois

Marianne Farrère (Isabelle Huppert) owns a cosmetic company which makes her the richest woman in the world. She shares her wealth with her husband Guy (André Marcon) and daughter Frédèrique (Marina Foïs). Frédèrique also has a family: husband Jean-Marc (Mathieu Demy) and son Charles (Paul Beaurepaire). So, there you have a close family of five all well served by butler Jérôme (Raphaël Personnaz) in a life of luxury. Then a photographer-author comes into the picture: Pierre-Alain Fantin (Laurent Lafitte) with his gay partner Raphaël (Joseph Olivennes).  Marianne quickly falls in love with Pierre-Alain to the point that she has no reservations about handing over a large sum (one hundred million euros) to him. Her daughter Frédèrique feels responsible for protecting the family fortune and there are disagreements. Hovering around all of this is Jérôme, who knows much about family secrets and questionable donations.

The title translates to The Richest Woman in the World. Here the actors are excellent. My favorite is Raphaël Personnaz who plays Jérôme. But the story seems to stand still. Is this—for me—a typical French movie where often I don’t understand the plot? It helps to research the background of the true story upon which it is based—the life of Liliane Bettencourt who owned 30% of the famous cosmetic company L’Oréal, founded in 1907. Interesting also is that, in real life, there are many super rich women in the world, who popped up when I researched the film. Die reichste Frau der Welt showed out of competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.  (Becky T.)