"It's for the flashback sequences," he stammered. "You know the fans. They have a specific image in their heads."

We must be careful not to declare absolute victory. The movement is real, but the battle is not over.

Meryl Streep, perhaps the greatest living actress, once noted that after 40, she was offered only "witches or hags" until she started producing her own material. The industry’s logic was circular: Studios didn’t make films for older women because they believed older women didn’t go to the cinema. But they didn’t go to the cinema because the cinema showed them nothing they recognized.

A celebrated actress in her sixties, known for her icy beauty, fights to save her legacy role from a "de-aging" CGI scandal, forcing her to confront whether her value lies in the memory of her face or the weight of her experience.