EXCLUSIVE: Angelina Jolie Drops Huge Hint New Film is About 'Healing From Brad'
Angelina Jolie hinted her new film explored healing after her split from Brad.
Aug. 16 2026, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Angelina Jolie has dropped what insiders see as a huge hint her deeply personal new film about "healing after trauma" reflects her own recovery from the painful aftermath of her relationship with Brad Pitt.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the 51-year-old Oscar winner wrote and directed Without Blood, a war drama starring Salma Hayek and Demian Bichir, adapted from Alessandro Baricco's novel of the same name.
Jolie Hints New Film Reflects Personal Trauma
Angelina Jolie described her project as a story about healing.
Jolie has now described the film as being for people seeking "answers and healing after trauma" – themes which insiders point out come after years of highly publicized legal and family battles following the breakdown of her marriage to Pitt, 62.
A Hollywood studio source familiar with Jolie's work told Radar in an exclusive interview: "Angelina hasn't explicitly said this film is about Brad, but when she talks about trauma, healing and returning to the place where you broke, it is impossible for people close to the situation not to see parallels with what she has lived through.
"She is basically dropping a huge hint it is about her healing after her split from Brad. Her experiences have inevitably shaped the person and filmmaker she is today. Her new film is a story about surviving trauma and searching for answers, so there is naturally going to be speculation that some of Angelina's own healing is reflected in it."
Director Stayed True To Universal Story
Jolie described her project as a story about healing.
Jolie told People about her film: "I was drawn to Alessandro Baricco's beautifully written novel because it examines universal truths about conflict, memory and what it is to be human.
"I chose to stay very true to it. My approach was to shape and edit more than to write."
Discussing who she believes will connect with the film, Jolie said: "The film is for anyone who seeks answers and healing after trauma.
"The book discusses how we often 'return to where we break.' That's true for almost anyone. No one knows what someone else has gone through. To sit and talk with openness and honesty, is a beginning."
Jolie and Pitt separated in 2016 after being together for 12 years and married for two.
Their breakup subsequently developed into a lengthy series of legal disputes, including a battle concerning their French winery, Château Miraval.
The former couple share six children – Maddox Jolie-Pitt, 25, Pax Jolie-Pitt, 22, Zahara Jolie, 21, Shiloh Jolie, 20, and twins Knox Jolie-Pitt and Vivienne Jolie, both 18.
Jolie Praises Hayek's Emotionally Raw Performance
Salma Hayek starred in the emotional new movie.
Jolie has also praised Hayek's performance in the emotionally demanding project.
She said: "It's a very challenging piece for actors who had to be very brave and emotionally open.
"Knowing her well helped to direct her but there was so much about her as a woman and a performer I was surprised by still and so impressed."
Life Experiences Reshape Hollywood Icon's Outlook
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Jolie previously played Maria Callas in a biopic.
The Girl, Interrupted Oscar-winner has previously discussed how her perspective on filmmaking has evolved as she has grown older.
Jolie portrayed legendary opera singer Maria Callas in the 2024 biographical drama Maria.
Speaking to Sky News about her changing outlook, Jolie said: "There's this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it's a connection.
"I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I've gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions."
Discussing how her life experiences informed her connection with Callas, Jolie said: "It's a matter of life, right? And so maybe that's interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn't have understood in my 20s."
