Personal Shopper
Personal Shopper is a 2016 supernatural psychological thriller film written and directed by Olivier Assayas. The film stars Kristen Stewart as a young American woman in Paris who works as a personal shopper for a celebrity and tries to communicate with her deceased twin brother.
An international co-production between Belgium, Czech Republic, France and Germany, the film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, Assayas shared the Best Director Award with Cristian Mungiu, who directed Graduation. The film was released on 14 December 2016 in France and 10 March 2017 in the United States. The film received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for Stewart's performance.
Plot
Maureen is a personal shopper in Paris for Kyra, a demanding supermodel. Her twin brother Lewis recently died from a heart condition, a condition shared by Maureen. They were both interested in spiritualism and felt they were mediums.Maureen stays overnight at her late brother's home, hoping for a sign from him, and has a brief encounter with a spiritual presence. His girlfriend Lara wants to sell the mansion to a couple who knew and loved her brother, but they want Maureen to find out if the mansion has spirits, benevolent or malevolent. Maureen and her brother had promised each other that who ever died first would give the other a sign after death. During her discussion with the potential buyers, Maureen discovers the artist Hilma af Klint, whose paintings were inspired by messages from the spirit world. Maureen video chats with her boyfriend Gary, who is on a contract job in Oman and encourages her to get away from Paris and Kyra and to come visit. He tells her there is nothing after death.
At Kyra's apartment, Maureen meets and talks with Kyra's lover Ingo, who tells her Kyra is planning to break up with him because she is afraid her husband will discover their relationship. Maureen spends another night at Lewis' home and the faucets turn on. She asks Lewis to talk with her, and discovers that her artwork has been scratched out. She is terrified by an aggressive, angry specter of a woman. Maureen flees the house.
On her way to London to pick up clothing for Kyra, Maureen receives a series of text messages from an unknown number, which she suspects is her late brother Lewis. The sender toys with Maureen, and encourages her to try on Kyra's clothes, which she has been forbidden to do. She spends the night in Kyra's bed, in a dress collected from London. The female spectre appears in the bedroom whilst Maureen sleeps for a few seconds, causing Maureen to wake up suddenly. The next morning, Maureen visits Lara to tell her that there is no longer a supernatural presence in the mansion. The sender also leaves her a room key for a hotel. When she visits the room in one of Kyra's dresses, no one is there, but when she checks at the front desk, she discovers the room is booked in her name and has been pre-paid in cash.
After picking up expensive jewelry for Kyra, Maureen returns to Kyra's apartment, where she discovers Kyra's bloody corpse, and sees fleeting images. She is questioned by the police, who ask about the location of the jewelry. Later, Maureen discovers the jewelry is in her apartment. The unknown texter demands she return to the hotel room, which she does, with the jewelry.
Doors in the hotel open and close, although no one is seen going through them. Ingo leaves the hotel, and is apprehended by two men. He shoots one and attempts to escape. However, he is arrested and confesses to murdering Kyra.
Maureen meets Lara's new boyfriend Erwin, who was friends with Lewis before his death. They speak about the possibility that Lewis's soul is still present. As Maureen sits in the garden, a wind stirs, and a glass behind her levitates and falls to the floor.
Maureen flies to Oman to visit Gary in the mountains. Arriving at his room, she hears a noise and finds a glass floating in the air; it falls and shatters. She asks questions, accepting single thumps as yes, two for no. When she eventually asks her twice-repeated question, "Lewis, is it you," there is silence. She then asks, "Or is it just me?" A single thump for yes.
Cast
Production
In May 2015, it was announced that Olivier Assayas would be directing the film, from a screenplay he wrote, with Kristen Stewart starring. He wrote it for Stewart as the star, as he had worked with her in Clouds of Sils Maria. Charles Gillibert produced the film under his CG Cinema banner. In October 2015, Sigrid Bouaziz, Lars Eidinger, Anders Danielsen Lie, and Nora von Waldstätten also had been cast in the film. In November 2015, Ty Olwin joined the cast, taking the role of Gary, Maureen's boyfriend.Principal photography began on 27 October 2015 in Paris, France for two weeks and then moved to Prague, London, and Oman.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2016, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. The film was distributed by Les Films du Losange in France, and IFC Films in North America. Universal Pictures distributed the film internationally. The film was screened at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival.It was released in France on 14 December 2016. The film was released in the United States on 10 March 2017.
In the United States, the movie grossed $79,175 on 4 theaters for an average of $19,794, the highest of the weekend, after adding 31 theaters the next weekend it saw a 92.6% increase to gross $152,478. The movies final US domestic total was $1,305,195 and a worldwide gross of $2.2 million against a $1 million budget, it was a box office success.
Critical reception
Personal Shopper received generally positive reviews from film critics. The Guardian awarded the film five stars, calling it "uncategorisable yet undeniably terrifying". Stephanie Zacharek of Time gave a positive review, writing that "Personal Shopper is a strange and beautifully made film, and both star and director are clearly energized by their dual mission." She also listed it as one of Time's top ten films of 2017. A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote the film is "sleek and spooky, seductive and suspenseful. It flirts with silliness, as ghost stories do. And also with heartbreak."Rotten Tomatoes reports a "Certified Fresh" score of 81% based on 262 reviews with an average rating of 7.13/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Personal Shopper attempts a tricky series of potentially jarring tonal shifts with varying results, bolstered by a performance from Kristen Stewart that's impossible to ignore." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 77 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The film was booed at its initial screening at the Cannes Film Festival, about which director Assayas said, "It happens every where people just don't get the ending." At its official premiere at Cannes, the film received a 4 1/2-minute standing ovation.