First Look: This Top Actress is Now the World’s Richest Woman!

The Bettencourt affair is one of the most well-known and high-profile legal sagas in France. Following a documentary released on Netflix, this scandal featuring breaches of trust is now being adapted into a feature film titled “The Richest Woman in the World” by Thierry Klifa.

This reinterpretation takes significant creative liberties with reality. Here, Liliane Bettencourt is transformed into Marianne Farrère. The film is set to premiere on October 29, 2025.

Debuts at Cannes and Angoulême

The movie recently opened the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival this Monday, August 25, with Isabelle Huppert and the film’s crew in attendance.

Isabelle Huppert, in a majestic performance, will astonish you in a role reminiscent of her work in François Ozon’s “8 Women.” Alongside Laurent Lafitte, she forms an already iconic duo, featuring dialogue and scenes that are sure to provoke a reaction. She reunites with the actor nearly a decade after their collaboration in Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle.”

In an exclusive interview, Isabelle Huppert shared her thoughts on her role: “I was drawn in by the tone I sensed the film would have, which was conveyed to me through the flavorful dialogues and the sequence of scenes. I anticipated that we could adopt a tone, sometimes a bit farcical, sometimes a bit theatrical, sometimes a bit operatic. All of this is at play in the film and it especially gave me a lot of freedom and allowed me to do exactly what I wanted with this character.”

Regarding the similarities between this film and “8 Women,” Isabelle Huppert responded, “Honestly, I would never have thought of it. Yet, I also like to say that there’s a form of theatricality in the film’s tone. I mentioned the tone of farce. There’s an exaggeration brought largely by the character of Fantin, wonderfully played by Laurent Lafitte, which perhaps contributes to these reminiscences, to these connections we make with other films, because it’s as if she caricatures herself in this role, or as if, suddenly, her encounter with Fantin allows her to access this slight exaggeration of herself, something that had been dormant. The way she emancipates herself is by going a bit over the top, as was the case in François Ozon’s film.”

The film’s synopsis reads: “The Richest Woman in the World”: her beauty, her intelligence, her power. A writer photographer: his ambition, his insolence, his madness. The lightning strike that sweeps them away. A wary heiress fighting to be loved. A butler who knows more than he lets on. Family secrets. Astronomical donations. A war where all is fair.

“The Richest Woman in the World” hits theaters on October 29, 2025.