A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her
next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.
Director: Josephine Decker
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Odessa Logan
Release Date: June 5, 2020
Genres: Biography, Drama, Thriller
Rated R for sexual content, nudity, language and brief disturbing images
Runtime: 1h 47min
Review:
Shirley is an art house film through and through for better or
worse. Josephine Decker’s engaging and
unsettling film recalls the classic film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? This fictional account of Shirley Jackson’s
life uses a lot of the same skeletal frame of that film but it’s done in a
decidedly disorientating way. Some of
the sequences work better than others while some just feel pretentious. Luckily the film is anchored by another
stellar performance by Elisabeth Moss.
There is a tempered but palatable ferocity in every shot she’s in;
needless to say she’s always the most interesting thing on screen. Moss and
Odessa Young make an interesting pair on screen especially as the plot moves
towards its finale. Young is solid
throughout but it’s hard to compete with Moss’s electric turn which may
ultimately lead to awards for her. The
film as a whole tends to be more hit or miss since some of the choices work
better than others.
B-
