At the peak of her international career, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years ago. But back then she played the role of Sigrid, an alluring young girl who disarms and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, that of the older Helena.

She departs with her assistant Valentine (Kristen Stewart) to rehearse in Sils Maria; a remote region of the Swiss Alps. Jo-Ann Ellis(Chloë Grace Moretz), a young Hollywood starlet with a penchant for scandal, is to take on the role of Sigrid, and Maria finds herself on the other side of the mirror, face to face with an ambiguously charming woman who is, in essence, an unsettling reflection of herself.

Sils Maria originates in Juliette Binoche’s desire to create a film built around women and performance. She challenged director Olivier Assayas, who directed her in l’Heure d’été, to write a script, resulting in his most ambitious and provocative movie to date. “This film, which deals with the past, our relationship to our own past, and to what forms us.” He comments. The film is also implicitly built around Juliette Binoche, borrowing many biographical facts from her own career for the fictional character of Maria.

Sils Maria premièred at the 67th Cannes Film Festival in 2014. The film went on to win the prestigious Prix Louis Delluc. Juliette Binoche was nominated for Best Actress at the 2015 César Awards.