Personal Shopper

Personal Shopper is an evocative 2016 film directed by the acclaimed Olivier Assayas. This work of art merges the genres of mystery, drama, and horror into a haunting exploration of grief and identity. Boasting a gripping performance by Kristen Stewart in the lead role, it persists as an atmospheric, psychological thriller amidst a backdrop of the high fashion world in Paris.

The movie orbits around the life of Maureen Cartwright (played by Kristen Stewart), a young American woman working in Paris as a personal shopper to high-profile celebrity, Kyra (played by Nora von Waldstätten). Stewart's portrayal as Cartwright immediately cements her as a unique protagonist. She's a medium, struggling with the recent loss of her twin brother Lewis to a congenital heart condition they both share. Reeling from grief and dread, Maureen is left adrift between two worlds - the real and the ethereal.

Unlike her glamorous day job arranging luxurious couture for her demanding, capricious employer, Maureen's real fixation lies in her quiet nights trying to communicate with her deceased brother in his ominous Parisian mansion. Their bond and shared psychic abilities combined with a mutual heart condition culminate into a promise – whoever died first would send the other a sign from the afterlife. Stuck in a crippling limbo, Maureen finds herself tethered to Paris by this remaining connection to Lewis, influencing the eerie undertones that pervade throughout the film.

This narrative explores the themes of isolation, longing, and the struggle to find oneself amidst the labyrinth of grief. Her dialogues with the spirit world, her personal anxieties, and the mystifying events enveloping her manifest an environment perplexingly tethered between the spectral and the contemporary.

As the plot unfurls, Maureen begins receiving ominous text messages from an unknown sender. The suspenseful back-and-forth induced by the messages spirals into an unseen source of tension, pushing Maureen to the boundaries of her fears and compounding the film’s blend of mystery and horror.

On the other end of Maureen's life is the world of high fashion — a world she dismisses yet is forced to inhabit due to her job. This disconnection marks a stark contrast between her internal turmoil and her external reality. Here, the director uses the element of high fashion to illustrate the concept of 'haunting.' While her professional self is consumed by the glamour and luxe of Paris's fashion industry, her real self is lost and wandering, shackled by her personal loss.

Assayas showcases his ability to inject fresh life to a ghost story. The intricacies of Personal Shopper sketch a picture of the solitary journey through trauma that Maureen undergoes, in an elegant yet terrifying manner. It is not merely a horror film that depends on jump scares, but it delves deep into the psychology of its protagonist, painting an intimate portrait of her existential despair.

Kristen Stewart's portrayal of Maureen is central to the film's weight as a psychological thriller. Her performance is emotive, complex and carries the narrative through its many ebbs and flows. She effortlessly leads the viewer through the stylish yet spectral Parisian backdrop, towards the bitter reality of coping with loss.

Cast alongside Stewart is Lars Eidinger as Ingo, Kyra’s confounding boyfriend, and Sigrid Bouaziz as Lara, Lewis's former girlfriend. Each supporting character adds depth to the overall plot, intensifying the sense of intrigue and suspense that pervades the film.

Personal Shopper is a unique cinematic experience, a fusion of multiple genres against a backdrop of striking Parisian scenery and high-end fashion. Assayas intertwines elements of mystery, drama and horror to contemplate complex subjects such as loss, grief and the afterlife. What anchors this film is, undoubtedly, Kristen Stewart's haunting performance, as she captivates viewers with her journey oscillating between the living world and the spiritual one.