{"id":4324,"date":"2017-03-10T07:26:30","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T14:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=4324"},"modified":"2017-03-10T07:26:30","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T14:26:30","slug":"review-personal-shopper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=4324","title":{"rendered":"Review: PERSONAL SHOPPER"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"personalshopper1\"\"fixbutton\"Kristen Stewart has become a fearless actor.\u00a0 Shaking off the \u201cTwilight\u201d type-casting required her to take on roles in smaller films and prove her acting mettle.\u00a0 Working here again with the \u201cClouds of Sils Maria\u201d director Olivier Assayas, Stewart shows that she has nothing to prove.<\/p>\n

A light ghost story with dramatic elements, \u201cPersonal Shopper\u201d is all about Stewart.\u00a0 She occupies almost every frame, often emoting while texting on her iPhone or communicating through a computer.\u00a0 It is fascinating viewing, as she delivers natural dialogue (credited specifically to Assayas) and demonstrates her character\u2019s inner torment.<\/p>\n

In the film, Stewart plays Maureen Cartwright, an American living in Paris and working as a personal shopper for a fashion model.\u00a0 Her twin brother has just died of a heart ailment that she may also share.\u00a0 At one point, a doctor warns her to avoid, as I remember it, physical exertion and deep and serious emotions. Is that what they call heartache?\u00a0 I chuckled, but bought it.<\/p>\n

Part of the plot has the rail thin and neurotic Maureen attempting to contact her twin, who was a medium, in his old house.\u00a0 The house is for sale and the new owners want to be sure that the spirits have moved on or are not malevolent.\u00a0 Again, this might evoke viewer skepticism, but it is handled maturely and credibly mainly through Stewart playing the character with such conviction.<\/p>\n

The twisting and genre blending narrative, written by Assayas, has Maureen performing her duties as a personal shopper and doubling as an amateur medium.\u00a0 She contacts the other side, for sure, but what she thinks might be her brother, might be something else altogether.\u00a0 Smartly Assayas does not linger too long on the ghost story, which he could have exploited mainly for chills.\u00a0 There are unnerving moments to be had, however, but this is hardly a horror entry.\u00a0 Maureen\u2019s capacity as a medium is part of the largely dramatic story arch.<\/p>\n

Watching \u201cShopper\u201d I couldn\u2019t help but think of last year\u2019s divisive \u201cNeon Demon,\u201d which was also set in the world of high fashion.\u00a0 \u201cShopper\u201d is a smaller and tighter film, shot more humbly and featuring supernatural elements more prominently.\u00a0 But both films have something to say about the superficial nature of that business and the toll it takes on those operating around its fringes.\u00a0 It is against this backdrop that Assayas and Stewart operate.<\/p>\n

And the tricky story that the director and the movie star weave never fails to evoke interest.\u00a0 Keeping the viewer off-kilter is masterful as the film reminds one of De Palma at a distance filtered through French master Claude Chabrol. Where lesser films would be accused of misogyny, Assayas gets the tone right and one has to credit Stewart who knows the heart of her character.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonal Shopper\u201d is unique and enchanting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stewart proves she has nothing to prove in engaging ghost drama<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4327,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4324\/revisions\/4327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}