Personal Shopper | Film review - Kristen Stewart on spooky form

Millennial angst and spooky chills.

There’s a supernatural element to this strange mystery thriller starring Kristen Stewart, but we’re a world away from Twilight. Stewart’s character, Maureen, is a personal shopper to a globetrotting socialite, flitting between high-fashion boutiques and ateliers in Paris and London to find clothes for her absent employer. She is also a grief-stricken medium and is trying to make contact with the spirit of her recently deceased twin brother, who died from the congenital heart condition she shares.

The enigmatic narrative that ensues is decidedly odd, and the slow pace will bore some viewers rigid, but the film’s mix of ghost story, psychological drama and suspense chiller is genuinely spooky and unsettling, while Stewart, working again with Clouds of Sils Maria director Olivier Assayas, once more demonstrates that few can match her when it comes to conveying twitchy millennial angst.

Certificate 15. Runtime 105 mins. Director Olivier Assayas

Personal Shopper on Digital Platforms from July 10 and on Blu-ray and DVD July 17.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is02eCSDvxw

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.