When an insecure teen becomes a model to feel worthy, she’s pulled into a predatory world and must fight for the only thing they can’t take: her story.

SYNOPSIS:

We start with Mirella, a stunning 27-year-old top model, waking up hungover in a luxury suite after a messy, rough night. Her face is on TV, in a glossy beauty commercial. Over the bed she finds an envelope with a Black Card, a gift from Junior (70), the powerful, predatory CEO who owns her image and controls her life. But one selfie shows her millions of followers how wonderful everything is.

Cut to the other side of the selfie. Across the ocean, in a rust-belt town, we meet Stella, 16. She’s tall, shy, and quiet, and lives with her single mother Helena, 39, a pragmatic cleaner drowning in debt. Helena loves her daughter but doesn’t know how to express her feelings. The only time they share is when Helena complains or when they watch reality TV together in silence.

At the bank, when Helena goes quiet, Stella thinks it’s because she is a burden and believes that if she can help financially, she’ll finally deserve her affection. But we see that Helena is protecting her daughter so she can have a different future than hers. She knows her daughter is smart and deserves better.

Stella’s escape is reading, writing in her journal, and scrolling on Instagram. She follows models like Mirella, who seem strong and untouchable.

Stella’s life changes when Wilson, a model scout — the same one who discovered Mirella — spots her outside school. He sees her beauty and offers a contract. Helena is careful, but Wilson is persistent, and the advance money he offers is enough to keep their lights on. Maybe this is Stella’s only chance. She agrees and signs.

When Helena takes Stella to the airport, she looks for words, but the only thing she manages to say is, “Don’t be stupid, Stella,” even though we see she wants to say something else.

Stella arrives in a major fashion capital — think New York, Paris, Milan — and meets Dione (60), an elegant former supermodel who owns the agency. Dione is warm, protective, almost motherly, but she’s under pressure. Her biggest client is Junior. He has already chosen Stella as his next obsession, and Dione is now Junior’s willing architect of exploitation. She knows the sacrifice Stella faces because she once made it herself.

Stella moves into the model apartment, sharing the room with Dandara, a beautiful Black model who works hard to support her family, and Zoe, an aspiring influencer who thinks modeling is too much work for too few likes.

Stella’s destiny is already being shaped by Junior, but Dione still wants her to hustle because, in her mind, why should anything be easy for a young model?

On the castings, Stella grapples with the pressure and insecurity and sees the industry’s darkest side. She finds an unexpected mentor in Amir, a street designer. Through Amir and his community of drag queens and ballroom performers, Stella is introduced to a counter-culture where fashion is an act of self-expression and acceptance.

Stella finds her walk, she finds her voice, and she becomes a success. Junior selects her as the new face of his line, scheduling her to close Fashion Week alongside Mirella. It’s the dream come true — but it’s also a trap.

After the claustrophobic final show, Mirella — actively coerced by Junior — brings Stella and Zoe to Junior’s penthouse for a “toast.” Mirella slips away, leaving the girls alone with Junior. Within minutes, they collapse — drugged.

Stella wakes, her vision blurred, realizing the horror of the situation. She grabs the nearest weapon — a lamp — beats Junior, and drags Zoe out of the apartment, running alone into the night as Junior’s security descends.

She finds refuge with Amir, and finally with her mother Helena, who has traveled across the world to save her. In a long, emotional embrace, they finally share the unconditional love that Stella left home searching for.

But the industry won’t let her go. Dione ambushes Stella, reframing the assault as “drunken misconduct.” Zoe is coerced into lying, and Stella is threatened with legal action and public shame — the loss of everything her mother sacrificed.

Stella realizes the only thing she has left is her truth. She moves into a tiny apartment, starts over, and turns her experience into a raw, unfiltered book titled NEW FACE. She fulfills her contract, her emotionally distant, burnout expression ironically becoming the look of the season.

A year later, at the airport, with her final contract complete, she walks toward her gate and spots her book on a “BESTSELLERS” display. But as she leaves, she notices a young girl looking at a new ad for the very brand that almost destroyed her. The model is flawless, empty, unmistakable: an AI-generated model.

Stella smiles — a soft, knowing smile. She steps onto the plane, finally stepping into a future that is completely and fiercely her own.

Fade to white.

NEW FACE