SHIRLEY (2020)

[Rev. Powell]

I have to put this in good movies because it's clearly well-made, shot, acted, written, edited... but I didn't enjoy it a lot. (I didn't hate it, either.) I'm starting a post because I know there are Shirley Jackson fans on this board who might want to check it out.

Plot: An ambitious young man hoping to become a professor goes to Vermont with his pregnant wife Rose; they stay with the writer Shirley Jackson and her husband, a famous critic and tenured professor. Jackson is depressed, agoraphobic, and very nasty; her sarcastic, scheming, horny husband isn't much better. Nevertheless, Jackson and Rose develop a friendship and Shirley starts writing again. A series of betrayals nearly wreck everyone's lives, but Shirley uses it as material and gets her book finished.

It's a drama with a few horror elements. My main problem was that Shirley and her husband were just too nasty, and not in a fun way. It's not like their put-downs were hilarious, they were just mean, and there's no sense of the joy of creativity, just oppressiveness. Although there are elements of fact here, I doubt that any couple could really be that nasty; you leave not liking Shirley Jackson very much. Still, as I said, technically it's well-made, it might have multiple acting Oscar nominations for Elizabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg, and the plot did keep my interest overall. I think I'll give it a generous 3.5/5.

It's free to watch on Hulu if you have a subscription.

http://youtu.be/X2oA35q212E

[RCMerchant]

Shirley Jackson is my favorite writer. I'll have to give it a look-see!

[RCMerchant]

I looked and seen. I couldn't finish it.