24 September 2025 |
The short film by Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn is a very watchable dark comedy.
One thing to note before you watch The Tiger, a short film by Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn that cleverly folds Demna’s first collection for Gucci into its 33 minute run time, is that the titular animal does not exist. It’s a metaphor that comes into play towards the end of the movie. But given that Jonze has a penchant for the surreal (ahem, Being John Malkovich) while Reijn can vacillate between erotic drama (Baby Girl) and horror-comedy (Body, Body, Body), the feline was a fittingly absurdist plot device to welcome in a new, splashy era at the Italian luxury brand.
Demna at Gucci was never going to be subtle and the rollout has been full of smart decisions that led to major impact. Part one was the conscious decision to forgo a traditional presentation or runway show. Instead the designer opted to drop a lookbook 24-hours before Milan Fashion Week formally started. Featuring characters like the femme fatale La Cattiva or the sexy La Bomba, they would be brought to life the next evening — part two of the plan.
In Milan, the brand took over the stock exchange and built a one-night only cinema, complete with a red carpet worthy of the Oscars. Stars of The Tiger like Demi Moore, Elliot Page, and Ed Norton posed as a sea of flashes lit up their faces while other brand ambassadors like BTS’ Jin entered to a chorus of piercing screams from his fans. Meanwhile, in New York, a smaller screening for editors and tastemakers offered them a chance to partake in the experience.
As for the film itself, it’s darkly funny, touching on everything from A.I. anxiety to late stage capitalism to societal expectations. Moore plays Barbara Gucci, the Head of Gucci International as well as the Chairman of California. We’re introduced to her in the middle of a nightmare that brought to mind The Substance. She’s a woman under immense pressure, especially on that day as an acclaimed Vanity Fair writer played by Ed Harris is due to pay her and her family a visit. After being awakened by her assistant (Ronny Chieng) Barbara changes into the first look of the collection, La Incazzata, a mod red coat and heads out to her garden to inspect the looks as worn by models on pedestals. Featuring cameos by the likes of Kendall Jenner and Alex Consani, they’re avatars of Barbara, complete with long brown wigs.
From there we’re introduced to the rest of the family: Page is Braxton, the smarmy son with grand ambitions while Keke Palmer is Monica, who brings her wealthy heiress girlfriend Katie as played by Alia Shawkat in tow. Norton, rounds out the children as Colin, the eldest from a prior marriage who has some interesting beliefs on the fate of the world. A few rounds of spiked champagne later and the evening quickly devolves into hallucinations and the deep thoughts one could only have on strong psychotropics.
Getting a room of jaded editors to crack a smile, much less laugh out loud is a feat only Demna along with Jonze and Heijn could accomplish. There were plenty of wink wink moments that poked at journalists and writers while the twins, as played by Julianne Nicholson and Heather Lawless, were the quintessential fashion editor archetype. Clad in identical sculptural black gowns, they were perfectly snobby and offered bitchy quips to the delight of the room. But perhaps the best part was the mid-credits scene, which felt especially timely given that TikTok was predicting The Rapture on the day of the premiere. Just watch it on YouTube for yourself, it’s a fun romp. And should the movie want you to experience the pieces in real life, the collection will be available tomorrow in 10 stores globally including the Wooster Street location in New York and the Rodeo Drive boutique in Los Angeles. Could this be the most successful see-now buy-now moment? We’d say absolutely.
