Personal Shopper (2016)

A personal shopper in Paris refuses to leave the city until she makes contact with her twin brother who previously died there. Her life becomes more complicated when a mysterious person contacts her via text message.

Director:

Olivier Assayas

Writer:

Olivier Assayas

Stars:

Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Sigrid Bouaziz

9 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kristen Stewart	...	Maureen
Lars Eidinger	...	Ingo
Sigrid Bouaziz	...	Lara
Anders Danielsen Lie	...	Erwin
Ty Olwin	...	Gary
Hammou Graïa	...	Detective
Nora von Waldstätten	...	Kyra (as Nora Von Waldstätten)
Benjamin Biolay	...	Victor Hugo
Audrey Bonnet	...	Cassandre
Pascal Rambert	...	Jérôme
Aurélia Petit	...	Chanel PR
Olivia Ross	...	London Fashion House PR
Thibault Lacroix	...	Paris Fashion House PR
Calypso Valois	...	Photoshoot Assitant
Benoit Peverelli	...	Photographer

Storyline

It's been already three months since the sudden death of her 27-year-old twin brother Lewis from a congenital malformation of the heart, and Maureen, a young fashionista, assistant to a celebrity woman and a capable medium, still hasn't made any contact with him. Spending her time between high profile fashion establishments and the abandoned Lewis' house in Paris, Maureen is silently battling with the gut-wrenching grief and sorrow, while at the same time, looking for a sign from her deceased brother after an oath taken between the twins. Aloof, disoriented and still mourning, wraithlike Maureen attuned to the ethereal realm, is inevitably caught between this world and the spiritual, always looking for portals and a sign that would prove her brother right, however, in vain. Unexpectedly, as the days pass by swiftly and the random apparitions become more frequent, Maureen will start to receive strange text messages from an unknown sender who seems to know a lot about her, but in the ...

---

Plot Keywords:

spiritualism | text message | medium | personal shopper | trying on a dress | 

---

Taglines:

Connection in time.

---

Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language, sexuality, nudity and a bloody violent image

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Germany]

Country:

France Germany Czech Republic Belgium

Language:

English French Swedish German

Release Date:

10 March 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Personal Shopper

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$79,175, 12 March 2017

Gross USA:

$1,305,195

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$269,920

Company Credits

Production Co:

CG Cinéma, Vortex Sutra, Sirena Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.40 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Olivier Assayas didn't originally intend to make two consecutive films with Kristen Stewart. However, in 2015 he was working on a American production, which fell apart and subsequently created the script for this film in a short matter of time. In an interview, Assayas said he didn't think he would've written the Personal Shopper screenplay if he hadn't known Stewart.

---

Goofs

In the Cartier shopping scene, a hair is visible in the upper right hand corner of most of the interior close-ups.

---

Quotes

Erwin: [to Maureen] You know how they say the dead watch over the living? I've thought about that a lot. Not just because Lewis was a medium. I don't know what that means. For me, he was someone deeply intuitive of others. He, uh... understood things that went unspoken. He did. Maybe because he knew he was going to die. I mean, I felt that he saw things which I didn't. Maybe you do too. He thought you had the same gifts...

---

Connections

Referenced in Midnight Screenings: Personal Shopper (2017)

---

Soundtracks

Ave Generosa
Written by Hildegard von Bingen
Performed by Jordi Savall and Andrew Lawrence-King

User Reviews

Another plot-driven melodrama for malevolent angst.

Personal Shopper is pretty straightforward and the ending concretizes it: Kristen Stewart projects her malevolent existence outward and it manifests as ghostly images, sounds, moving objects, and texts which draw out her insecurities. There are secondary plot elements that are less important and some thematic touches on how technology creates isolation, but they are thin and stats quo for today. The movie draws you along until the end reveal and then you realize it was pretty empty like the message it conveyed.