Year: 2017
Runtime: 105 min
Language: English
Director: Olivier Assayas
In Paris, an American woman working as a personal stylist to a famous, withdrawn actress finds herself increasingly unsettled. While tending to the celebrity's wardrobe, she begins receiving mysterious text messages, seemingly from beyond the grave. These messages appear to be connected to her deceased twin brother, leading her on a haunting journey as she grapples with grief, the unknown, and a growing sense of unease about her own fragile reality.
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Read the complete plot breakdown of Personal Shopper (2017), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.
Maureen Cartwright is a dedicated personal shopper in Paris for the famous supermodel, Kyra Gellman. Following the tragic death of her twin brother, Lewis, from a genetic heart condition, Maureen is anxiously waiting for a sign from him to honor their pact of connection from the afterlife. She decides to spend the night at Lewis’s house, hoping to receive this awaited communication, and during her stay, she briefly feels the presence of a spirit.
As fate would have it, Lewis’s girlfriend, Lara, joins Maureen to visit a couple interested in purchasing Lewis’s home. The conversation takes an intriguing turn when the wife brings up Hilma af Klint, an artist whose work was inspired by messages from the spiritual realm. Later, in a video call with her boyfriend, Gary, a contractor working in Oman, Maureen grapples with his suggestion to visit, which she ultimately declines.
The following day at Kyra’s apartment, Maureen meets Ingo, the magazine editor and Kyra’s lover, who shares troubling news about Kyra’s plan to end their relationship due to fears of being discovered by her husband. It’s upon returning to Lewis’s house that Maureen becomes deeply unsettled as the bathroom faucets inexplicably turn on, and to her dread, her drawings are found violently defaced. A sinister female specter begins to haunt her, heightening her terror.
In an unexpected twist, Maureen starts receiving cryptic messages from an unidentified individual, initially believing the sender to be Lewis. The elusive messenger encourages Maureen to explore her desires, leading her to don Kyra’s clothing during an intimate moment in Kyra’s bed. After this experience, she faces the same haunting presence again, but the next morning, she tells Lara that the supernatural occurrences have ceased.
Soon, a mysterious room key for a hotel arrives in Maureen’s possession. Clad in one of Kyra’s latest outfits, she visits the room only to find it vacant. When she attempts to uncover the identity of the mysterious texter at the front desk, she discovers the reservation was made in cash and under her own name.
After dropping off some of Kyra’s jewelry at her apartment, Maureen cautiously opens Kyra’s bedroom door only to be confronted with the horrifying sight of Kyra’s lifeless body on the bathroom floor. She escapes on her motorcycle, making her way to the police station where she is questioned about her relationship with Kyra, but later released. Ignoring the persistent texter’s inquiries about whether she disclosed their conversations to the authorities, Maureen calls Gary to accept his invitation to visit Oman.
Upon returning home, she notices Kyra’s jewelry unexpectedly lying around her apartment despite telling the police she had left it at Kyra’s. The texter intensifies the pressure, urging Maureen to return to the hotel. Complying, she brings the jewelry with her, where she seems to recognize a shadowy figure entering the room, and experiences the eerie sensation of doors and elevators moving on their own. In a shocking turn of events, Ingo is seen leaving the hotel and being apprehended by police, confessing to Kyra’s murder.
As Maureen meets Lara in a café to seek shelter before her trip to Oman, she encounters Erwin, Lara’s new boyfriend who had known Lewis. After he departs for work, Maureen finds herself alone in the garden when a ghostly apparition appears in the kitchen, momentarily lifting a glass before it shatters to the ground.
Finally, Maureen travels to Oman and joins Gary at his mountain retreat. However, she experiences another unsettling event when she discovers a glass suspended in the air before crashing down. In her desperation to connect, she asks yes/no questions aloud, interpreting the responses through unsettling thuds. When she questions whether it is truly Lewis reaching out, she receives silence, but when she asks, “Is it just me?”, a single thump echoes back, leading her further into a journey of mystery and confrontation with the unknown.
Last Updated: November 16, 2024 at 11:39
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