Shirley Jackson was a famous writer of gothic and horror stories, several of her stories and novels have been adapted for film and television. The most famous one is The Haunting of Hill House, of which we saw a series adaptation in 2018.
It's not a full-blown biopic, it's a mix of real elements from Shirley Jackson's life, with other elements added, which are totally fictional. The script, an adaptation of the novel, brings us closer to the life of this writer, who we have enjoyed many of her works, but know very little about.
Fred and Rose Nemser are young newlyweds, who are housed in the house of the couple formed by Stanley Hyman and Shirley Jackson. Hyman is a prestigious professor at Bennington College and Fred will be his teaching assistant for a while. Shirley Jackson is a successful writer, whose stories are in the horror genre, fascinating to some and disturbing to others. Rose will be in charge of cleaning the house, cooking and keeping Shirley company. At first Shirley doesn't want to have her partner in the house, acting rude, but then she changes her mind, to use Rose in the creative process of her next novel, whose subject will be the actual disappearance of a student from the university where her husband is a professor.
Rose is fascinated by Shirley. From the moment she reads her story, the lottery, in the first scene of the film, we notice that she admires the writer. During the first dinner in the house, Shirley asks her how long she is pregnant, causing great surprise, because Rose had not said anything about her pregnancy.
Although the relationship is difficult, because of Shirley's constant outbursts. Both women manage to establish a bond of friendship. Rose wants to be someone, she wants to be recognized, to be like Shirley. In turn, the writer needs Rose, to use and manipulate her, in a perverse creative game that helps her write her next novel.
The novel Jackson is writing is about a missing young woman. Rose will help her in the investigation, looking for information about the girl. The film raises the possibility that Stanley Hyman, Shirley's husband, may be involved in the disappearance. Or that's what Rose's character tries to make Shirley believe. That duality, of not knowing what is real and what is fictional, is maintained until the end of the film. An ending that is open to various interpretations. Each viewer will have a different idea about the ending.
To find out more about Shirley Jackson's real life, you can search the internet. To start, check out the wikipedia, in the following link there is a biography of the writer: Link
The disappearance of student Paula Jean Welden was a real event in Vermont. The case was never solved and still remains a mystery: This real event inspired Shirley Jackson to write the novel Hangsaman, which is referred to in the film. In the following link you can read about that unsolved mystery: Link
Logan Lerman, who I recently saw in the series Hunters, plays Fred, the most opaque character in history. Michael Stuhlbarg, an actor who always shines in supporting roles, jumping from drama to comedy, is a great actor, I will always remember him for his performance as Arnold Rothstein in the Boardwalk Empire series. In Shirley, he plays the writer's husband, Stanley Hyman. The young actress Odessa Young manages to convey the innocence of Rose, those looks of fascination for Shirley, her character will have the biggest change in the story, when the end comes, Rose will no longer be the same. But the star of the film is undoubtedly Elizabeth Moss.
A few days ago I published a review of the film The Invisible Man, where I praised Moss' performance. An actress I loved in the series Mad Men. The actress is once again giving us an excellent performance. She turns into Shirley Jackson, a writer consumed by her own demons, unhappy, bitter, manipulative, weird, but fascinating. 100 points for her performance!
Actress and filmmaker Josephine Decker effectively directs, if she maintains this level, a prognosis that will have many successes in the future. The handling of closed atmospheres and suspense has worked very well for her in this film. I'm looking for her previous film, Madeline's Madeline, which I haven't seen, but looking for information about the director, I found excellent opinions about that film.
I haven't read Susan Scarf Merrell's novel, I can't say it's a good adaptation, but the film is interesting and shows how excellent Elizabeth Moss is. The film is available on the Hulu platform. I hope you like it.
My Rankin: 4/5
