Shirley

Many of the works penned by author Shirley Jackson--such as The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House--are now regarded as literary classics. But as so often happens, at the time and place of their creation they were far from that status. As such, this portrayal of Shirley Jackson is one of a depressed, almost manic (albeit brilliant) creator who chafes against the lack of life/respect given to a creative woman in the 1950s. For a very basic overview, this film focuses on Shirley (Elisabeth Moss) and husband Stanley Hyman (Michael Stuhlbarg) taking in young couple Rose (Odessa Young) and Fred Nemser (Logan Lermer) as boarders. While Fred works hand-in-hand with Stanley at his university professorship, Rose is left to deal with the odd, often-unhinged Shirley at home, equally beset by bouts of intense creative and madness/depression. When a girl from the university goes missing, Shirley uses that as the impetus for a new novel, along the way uncovering truths about Rose's marriage and upcoming motherhood. The hallmark of "Shirley" is how it constructs its titular character. For most of the film, Jackson is portrayed as a nasty, snarky woman without a nice word to say to anyone. But as certain events unspool and viewers learn more about her existence (such as Stanley's infidelities), we come to sympathize with her plight (at least to a certain extent). It was certainly not easy to be a "woman creative" in that time period, and this movie really digs into those themes. This is of course contrasted with Rose's characterization, which starts off as "perfect wife" but ends up looking a lot more like Shirley than ever anticipated. Unfortunately, those great themes are quite scattershot throughout the film. The thread connecting reality to Jackson's new novel actually works against the proceedings by creating confusion as to what exactly is transpiring. While I understood the goal of that choice, it simply didn't work all that well. As such, it takes far too long to really figure out what exactly this picture is all about. As usual, Moss's performance is excellent. She is truly one of the best actors to grace the big (or small) screen at the moment. Young is also terrific as Rose, who must deal with some pretty heavy revelations of her own. Overall, I considered "Shirley" to be a solid film that delves into a lot of interesting themes about writing, creativity, time periods, and gender. It's a bit too messy to be truly great, but the material, acting, and high production value never render it boring, either.

Giving this a 10 to balance out the 3 star review from the man who said it was "all over the place," and clearly couldn't keep up. Nuanced and psychically titillating. Beautifully shot, fiercely performed. The film is largely a social commentary on male privilege, and the metaphorical and actual cages women are sentenced to by society. Like any great story, much is shown and not told; worth watching twice. I'd revel in reading the book in a heartbeat.