It’s been rather remarkable that it took the Cannes Film Festival four days to reveal its first truly divisive movie: Olivier Assayas‘ “Personal Shopper.” The movie was greeted with boos at its premiere, and reviews have been split, though Jessica Kiang mostly just found the movie to be ridiculous, rather than awful. Well, now you can see for yourself at least some of what critics were dealing with on the Croisette as the first trailer has landed.
READ MORE: The 20 Best Breakout Films From The Cannes Directors’ Fortnight
Kristen Stewart reteams with her “Clouds Of Sils Maria” director for this tale of a young woman who works as a personal shopper for a celebrity by day, and tries to communicate with her dead twin brother by night. There is also apparently a murder plot. Here’s the official synopsis:
PERSONAL SHOPPER is a supernatural thriller film written and directed by French director Olivier Assayas, in which he reunites with his Clouds of Sils Maria star Kristen Stewart. It was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 69th Cannes Film Festival.
In the film, Maureen (Stewart), mid-20s, has a job she hates: seeing to the wardrobe of a media celebrity. She couldn’t find anything better to pay for her stay in Paris. And wait. Wait for a sign from the spirit of her twin brother, who died a few months earlier. Until then, her life will stay on hold.
“I play a young woman who is very lonely, completely isolated, and sad. It was exhausting to be in that character all the time,” Stewart explained in the press notes for the film. “Even when I was in a scene with other actors, I could never really be with them. It’s as if they were all ghosts. I didn’t consider myself to be a finite person. There couldn’t be the slightest interaction between me and them because I didn’t really feel like I existed. That plunged me into a very painful state. Thankfully, I was surrounded by people I love and never felt alone. I was very lucky. If the atmosphere on set hadn’t been as positive or friendly, I would have been devastated and probably collapsed on the floor. In the film, I never stop rushing from one place to another. I’m in constant movement. I lost a lot of weight during the shoot. It was exhausting.” Sounds fun!
No domestic release date yet for “Personal Shopper” but IFC Films will be releasing it. The picture opens in France on October 19th. Watch the new trailer above.
