Suzanne Lindon and Kim Gordon star in the French filmmaker’s latest short, a Parisian road movie about bodies, fashion, friendship and transformation
A windowless car repair shop glows under bright white fluorescent lights. From beneath a hulking 1980s sedan emerges a young woman, her mechanic’s overalls and face covered in grease. After a hard day of work, she vigorously scrubs herself clean at the sink. Outside, daylight remains.
The garage door opens. The car, transformed, cautiously enters the streets of Paris. Behind the wheel is a familiar figure, now dressed head-to-toe in dark leather, her hair and sunglasses evoking another era. The camera follows her through the city as a series of poetic encounters and minor mysteries unfold on her wordless journey to meet Kim.
Directed by influential French filmmaker Claire Denis, “Avec Kim” is the 32nd commission from Miu Miu Women’s Tales, the acclaimed short-film series that invites some of today’s most original female directors to explore vanity and femininity in the 21st century.
Across more than five decades, Denis’ cinema has explored colonialism and post-colonialism, moving between West Africa and contemporary France. Beau Travail (1999) is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. With “Avec Kim,” Denis distills the principles of a filmmaking practice often described as a “cinema of the body.”
Her approach prioritizes sensory experience — images, sound, movement and the physical presence of performers — over conventional narrative and dialogue. As Denis has put it, “capturing bodies on film is the only thing that interests me.”
“Avec Kim” plays with familiar female character tropes while examining female strength, the playful power of friendship and fashion’s ability to transform character. Clothing becomes part of the film’s language, capable of shifting not only appearance but also identity and attitude.
The film stars Suzanne Lindon, daughter of acclaimed actors Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlain. Raised in an artistic Parisian environment, Lindon made her acting debut in Spring Blossom (2020), which she also wrote and directed at the age of 19.
The titular Kim is played by Kim Gordon, co-founder of legendary art-rock band Sonic Youth, visual artist, author and enduring fashion-culture muse. Gordon also composed the film’s score, creating a sultry, sprawling soundscape that mirrors the city’s infinite human stories.
Denis is known for giving her actors considerable freedom to adapt and improvise. “the camera is my most important choreographer by being close and respectful to the actors,” she says. In “Avec Kim,” gestures, glances and movement become as important as dialogue, creating a film language built around physical presence.
The result is a Parisian road movie of small things: the contrast between women’s bodies, the characters they inhabit and the emotional expansiveness of the world around them. Denis describes her cinematic language as being “made out of tenderness and love of human beings even when they can be very brutal.”
“Avec Kim” premiered on September 5, 2026, at the Venice Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori, alongside the 31st Women’s Tales episode, “Discipline” by Mona Fastvold.
Following its Venice premiere, “Avec Kim” will be available across Miu Miu’s digital channels before later streaming globally on MUBI.
