Review of Personal Shopper (2016) by Patrick L — 20 Oct 2017

"Personal Shopper is something of a mystery indeed, it's such a smart thriller even Hitchcock would be impressed by it.".

DVD Movie Review: Personal Shopper.

Date Viewed: July 4 2017.

Written and Directed By Olivier Assayas (Summer Hours, Carlos, Something in the Air, Clouds of Sils Maria, Demonlover and Boarding Gate).

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Nora Von Waldstätten, Anders Danielsen Lie, Sigrid Bouaziz, Ty Olwin, Audrey Bonnet, Pascal Rambert, Hammond Graia and Benjamin Biolay.

"Personal Shopper" is an intriguing and tasteful thriller that might frustrate people with it's lack of thrills but Kristen Stewart is terrific here as an American personal shopper who partakes in several detours in her late brother's mansion where she hopes to possibly make contact with him. Stewart has really been taking chances lately with these riveting roles. From "Clouds of Sils Maria" to "Still Alice" to "Certain Women" to "Camp X-Ray", she has really put her Bella Swan persona to rest. Stewart is really becoming an actress but the "Twilight" haters don't seem to think so.

It's pacing might be slow but "Personal Shopper" is still a very good movie. Mostly set in Paris, the film centers around Maureen (Stewart), a personal shopper for a really famous fashion model named Kyra (Nora von Waldstätten). Maureen is still grieving over the death of her twin brother, Lewis and she searches for any signs of his presence in his old mansion. Lewis' girlfriend, Lara (Sigrid Bouaziz) is planning to sell the mansion and the potential buyers want Maureen to find out if the house is free from ghosts or any spiritual presence.

Suddenly one night, she hears clanking noises and she thinks that it might be the spirit of her brother. She thinks so because both of them had the same genetic heart problem, they were both interested in spiritualism and had connections to their universe. While neglecting her Skype-chatting boyfriend, Gary (Ty Olwin), Maureen gets involved in a bizarre relationship with an unknown texter who keeps texting her a series of personal questions. Could this mysterious person be somebody Maureen knows, we don't know who he is and that's what keeps the movie engaging. On the spiritual stuff involving the twin brother, is he really present in the mansion? Is Maureen really the spirit of her late brother? Or is it just all in her imagination?

The film keeps us intrigued until the very end and the very respected writer and director Olivier Assayas (Summer Hours, Demonlover, Boarding Gate, Something in the Air, Carlos, Clouds of Sils Maria) has crafted a tricky tightrope of a premise. "Personal Shopper" also benefits as an impressive character study and as a chilling thriller. Kristen Stewart's performance is tough to shake off and the movie underpins it's themes of communication, grief and loss solidly well. "Personal Shopper" is something of a mystery indeed, it's such a smart thriller even Hitchcock would be impressed by it.