Chloe pours coffee for other people and memorizes every Vivienne Sterling film in her head. When a studio audition lands her the lead in a drama produced by Vivienne's husband, Richard, she thinks she's finally been handed a life. Then Vivienne takes over her training, and the lessons stop feeling like lessons.
The two start something they can't name, hidden in rehearsal rooms and after-hours calls. Chloe wants Vivienne to choose her out loud; Vivienne keeps counting the cost of leaving a marriage that built her career. On premiere night Richard learns the truth, and Chloe is left asking a famous woman to walk away from everything for her. The answer doesn't come fast enough, and Chloe has to decide whether a life in the spotlight is worth losing the person who put her there.
