KIM NOVAK'S VERTIGO

2025, USA, Documentary, Color, 90 minutes

Summary: Kim Novak remains one of Hollywood’s most enduring enigmas—a luminous star who, at the peak of her fame, turned her back on the spotlight to embrace a life of solitude, self-expression, and authenticity. Once the top box office draw in the world, she defied the expectations of the studio system and the confines of celebrity, choosing individuality over image, and art over artifice. KIM NOVAK’S VERTIGO is a lyrical and intimate portrait of a woman who refused to be remade by the industry that sought to define her. Blending rare archival footage with deeply personal reflections and vivid glimpses into her reclusive life along Oregon’s wild Rogue River, the film traces her extraordinary path—from mid-century icon to fiercely private artist. While Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo remains her most iconic role, the film explores how that performance—and the duality it captured—mirrors the ongoing tension between image and identity that shaped Kim’s life. As she revisits fragments of her past—Edith Head’s legendary grey suit, the charred remains of her leather-bound script twice rescued from the ashes, and the hauntingly familiar grounds of Mission San Juan Bautista, where the tragic falls of Madeleine and Judy took place—a deeper story emerges: one of defiance, reinvention, and the quiet power of a woman who walked away from fame to remain true to herself.

• VARIETY “‘Kim Novak’s Vertigo’ Acquired by Dogwoof”