A film biopic based on the ideas more than the life of writer Shirley Jackson. An author I sadly know little about.
The author is in a state of seemingly constant despair. A heavy drinker, apparently in a turbulent marriage, and the inspiration has long gone. A young couple enters the picture, Rose and her husband Fred. They've both been invited over for a stay at their house of Shirley and her husband Stanley.
Fred and Stanley both work at the college and is the reason for their acquaintance. Shirley, has always been a mess according to her husband and asks for Fred's wife to stay on and help. She's essentially becoming a maid at this point. The matter of fact thrust of this position on her by her husband's tenured position is unsettling and completely deliberate.
Shirley and Rose become friends and somewhat colleagues over the course of the film. At points much more. This melding is not quick, they repel each other like water and oil at first. A tongue lashing of cultured proportions are the languages that reside within both Shirley and her husband Stanley.
Shirley's husband Stanley has a wandering eye. At numerous times there is more than wandering. Shirley knows exactly what he's been up to all these years. He admits to nothing but those lingering stares and arrogant mannerisms have become ingrained in his being. We all know what he's done or is going to do.
While the men are off doing their own things working at the college, the work of the women commence.
Elisabeth Moss steals the show without a doubt playing the lead Shirley. Her range is wide and ties the whole film together. There are many scenes where the camera is simply focused on her numerous emotions coming and going across her visage. Rage, despair, pensiveness all within a mere few seconds.
I'm keeping this one relatively brief as I find it's more about the emoting than the dialogue. Sit back and soak in atmosphere, it's filled to the brim.
Another mixed bag over on good old Rotten Tomatoes
87% critic rating 56% audience rating
Siding with those critics again with a high seventies for me.
You'll need to be the mood to watch this one. An interesting drama with mystery elements. Not mainstream and will certainly find an audience in the future. I feel like I need to re-watch this again to let more of the atmosphere sink in.
I also understand why people won't like this. If this doesn't work for you, I'm sure you'll find something that does and let us all know about it.
All media courtesy of the themoviedb.org
