Parents' Guide to

Clouds of Sils Maria

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Thoughful film about aging actress has swearing, racy parts.

Movie R 2015 123 minutes
Clouds of Sils Maria Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 16+

Based on 1 parent review

doctora
doctora Parent of 5-year-old
June 14, 2022
age 16+

A strong silent journey

This film meanders but it is not lost. It takes a journey and expects its audience to stay silent through it. It is a joy to witness Binoche and Stewart in their scenes. They riff off of each other and the lines with the play within a movie blur. Interpretations, standing points, time, age, it is all on the table. Internet culture and the 24 hour news cycle, the pluses and the minuses...a strong film that you experience and let wash over you.
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What's the Story?

Maria (Juliette Binoche) is a middle-aged veteran of stage and screen who got her big break decades earlier playing the young ingenue in a play. After the death of the playwright who gave Maria the courage to take on the role, a new director plans to stage the show again -- but this time he wants Maria to play the tragic role of an older character. Maria struggles to accept the fact that she's no longer 20, a task that's made more difficult when she learns that the younger role will go to an American starlet (Chloe Grace Moretz), a fixture on the celebrity gossip circuit who seems to spark chaos wherever she goes. To prepare for the role, Maria retreats to a house in the Alps to practice lines with her assistant (Kristen Stewart), a woman who's also struggling with her role and place within Maria's world -- and the world in general.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

An engrossing plot is burdened by over-complication toward the end of CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA, but no matter. Watching Binoche spar with Stewart, who brings her A-game here in a layered performance, is a revelation. It's a Stewart unleashed, her portrayal bold and intelligent, with dialogue that references both blockbuster movies (the kind for which Stewart became famous) and how the mockery of actresses who take on such work is lazy and unsurprising. (Moretz is a fitting third point to the triangle.)

The whole movie is, in a way, a meditation: on aging, work, art. On the employer-employee dynamic, the confidant-turned-antagonist. How can you navigate a shifting relationship, where the power arches from assistant to boss, from older to younger, in a second? How to keep on your feet? Do you surrender to the see-saw or refuse to play altogether? Clouds of Sils Maria will make you think about all of these questions and more.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Maria's reluctance to accept the role of the older character in the play. How did playing the younger character shape Maria's career and identity? What would it mean for her to abandon that self-image and play the other main character instead?

  • What do you think about the relationship between Maria and Valentine? When they're practicing lines, how much of the dialog feels like lines from the play, and how much feels like it's actually about their relationship?

  • What message do you think the movie is trying to convey? Is it successful?

  • How does the film portray drinking and smoking? Are there realistic consequences?

Movie Details

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