Kristen Stewart stokes desire in ‘Clouds of Sils Maria’ trailer

Sparks fly between Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche in the new trailer for “Clouds of Sils Maria,” French filmmaker Olivier Assayas’ English-language drama about the complicated dynamic between an aging actress and her loyal assistant.

In the film, Binoche plays Maria Enders, a famous actress who accepts a role in a restaging of the play that made her a star 20 years before — only this time she’s playing the older lead, and a Hollywood starlet (Chloe Grace Moretz) is stepping into the spotlight.

As Maria grapples with aging, identity and insecurity, her assistant, Valentine (Stewart), helps her juggle her career and rehearse lines. The play finds Maria’s character becoming obsessed with a younger woman, and for Maria and Val, it seems that life may begin to imitate art.

“Sils Maria,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday to largely positive reviews, promises to show a different side of Stewart than her high-profile Hollywood projects like the “Twilight” movies and “Snow White and the Huntsman.”

In the lead-up to Cannes, Assayas spoke to The Times about working with young Hollywood stars such as Stewart and Moretz in an art-house setting.

“Movies are exciting to make if they’re outside how they’re usually made — if you’re trying to invent a new way, or have a new take on something that no one thought was possible to reinvent,” he said.

IFC will release “Clouds of Sils Maria” in the U.S. later this year.

Times staff writer Steven Zeitchik contributed to this report.