In Maria, Angelina Jolie plays Maria Callas, one of the 20th Century's most prolific opera singers. The movie takes place over the course of the last week of her life in 1977 as she struggles with sedative dependency and a desire to reclaim her voice for herself.
The film is a fitting end to director Pablo Larraín's trilogy of iconic 20th-century women, which also includes 2016's Jackie, starring Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy, and 2021's Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana. All three movies are about pivotal moments in their subjects' lives, and what's more pivotal than death? Opening with the last moments of her life, Maria's fragile mortality haunts the rest of the film.
