Kentish Express Ashford & District - What's On
OUT THIS WEEK
PERSONAL SHOPPER (15)
The super-rich and the supernatural collide head-on in Olivier Assayas’ tantalising character study, which charts the emotional breakdown of a celebrity gopher, who moonlights as a medium. Personal Shopper unfolds in a world of red carpet couture and social media self-promotion and is blessed with a mesmerizing lead performance from Kristen Stewart, who won a Cesar – the French equivalent of the Oscar – for her role opposite Juliette Binoche in Assayas’ previous film, Clouds Of Sils Maria.
Stewart is equally compelling here, teasing back the layers of her emotionally brittle protagonist. It’s an unshowy yet powerful portrayal of a young woman, unhinged by grief, who is desperately waiting for a sign from beyond the grave that life does perpetuate after the end credits roll. Literal and metaphorical ghosts haunt the shadowy frames of Assayas’ perplexing mystery. Nothing can prepare you, however, for the spiralling madness of the picture’s final 20 minutes, including a bemusing epilogue on the Arabian Peninsula that could – and arguably should – have been exorcised in its entirety. Stewart plays Maureen Cartwright, personal slave to a celebrity Kyra (Nora von Waldstatten), who needs an underling to manage her diary and collect an endless array of loaned, designer gowns (that she is forbidden from trying on.) As she caters to various whims, Maureen finds time to indulge her fascination with the supernatural. Before her twin brother Lewis died, he vowed to make contact from the other side and she waits expectantly.
Spookily, she begins to receive anonymous text messages.
These cryptic communications shepherd Maureen towards unexpected tragedy and – possibly – proof of life after death. Personal Shopper refuses to abide by well-worn conventions, avoiding jump-out-of-the-seat shocks in favour of slow-burning suspense.