7/18/17  - Personal Shopper (2016) - 7+/10

Stewart does get the usual "subdued manicism while biting her lip" routine but to some aplomb in this genre quizzical exploration of mourning, introspection, and the unknown. It is finely crafted and astutely manifested in a creative take on an interesting story. Assayas squeezes dramatic tension and soulfulness out of the would be crude block of a ghost story base.

Not as beautiful as Clouds of Sils Maria, there is still a powerful use of composition and lighting within his shots and an overall refined gaze of class and stoicism (Is “heartfelt stoic” a thing?). There is a haunting soul in the impressions he captures in each scene, his specific designs and interpretations. The film is set up in drawn out lingers and short bursts of intensity. It creates a magical leering lens in which the entirety is viewed. An eerie beauty and melancholy that bleeds from the screen into your center.

I can see this film dividing an audience. With both the explicitness and hidden nature of the phenomena witnessed, the possible plodding of the plot, the suggestively bait/switch thriller-ness, and Stewart's "not for all tastes" expressive inexpressiveness, some might get turned off. That said, she worked for me, as did the film. She brought me to a place behind those tearful eyes and twitchy anxiety. And I felt the tension in those texts and the depths of her own self judgment. That is strong work on the page, in front of and behind the camera. Assayas is a master, Stewart his muse, and this film is damn fine.