Kali Uchis chose a film reference for Halloween 2026, appearing as Alice, Natalie Portman’s pink-haired character from the 2004 film Closer, according to costume roundups published on October 30 and 31. The look, with its pink hair and understated, melancholic style, stood out in a season full of bright superheroes and horror prosthetics precisely because it was quieter.
Alice in Closer is not a conventional Halloween heroine. She is a stripper and drifter whose pink wig and guarded vulnerability drive the film’s tangled love story, and Uchis’ recreation leaned into that mood rather than into glamour. Fans who knew the film recognised the reference instantly; fans who did not still saw a striking pink-haired look that photographed beautifully.
A niche film, well chosen
Closer, directed by Mike Nichols, has become a cult favourite for its dialogue and its performances, and Alice has become its most visually distinctive character. Choosing her for Halloween signalled taste: Uchis was not picking a character everyone would name, but one that film lovers would appreciate. That specificity, as with Janelle Monáe’s Phishboy and Alex Consani’s Thumb-Thumb, was rewarded in roundups that praised niche choices.
The pink hair was the key. Without it, Alice could be any woman in a simple outfit; with it, she is unmistakable. Uchis’ version, photographed by Amaury Nessaibia according to one roundup, made the hair the centrepiece, and the rest of the look followed from it.
Mood over spectacle
Uchis’ Alice fitted a broader Halloween 2026 pattern: music stars using costume to show a different side of themselves. Where LISA went fantasy and Tyla went playful, Uchis went cinematic and melancholic, a mood that matched her own music’s dreamy, introspective register.
As the season’s roundups continue, Uchis’ Alice remains one of the year’s most film-literate costumes, a reminder that Halloween can be a film festival as well as a party.
Uchis’ Alice also worked because Closer’s dialogue and mood have kept the film alive in online discussion long after its release. Fans still quote its lines and debate its characters, so a costume drawn from it arrived with a ready-made audience.
