Let's pray for a boy. The world is too cruel to girls.

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 50 Movies of 2020...

#44 : Shirley

Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss stars as celebrated horror writer Shirley Jackson (best known for The Lottery) in a fictionalised biopic that speculates on what happens when a younger couple interrupts her tepid domestic life with husband Stanley (Michael Stuhlbarg).

And after films in French, Icelandic, Arabic and Portuguese, we've got one in a rarely seen language on this list so far - English!  And it's also a film I've heard of - wonders will never cease!  Having said that, it was a film that I had no intention of watching - I'm not generally a fan of the "fictionalised biopic" mostly because I don't see why anyone would bother.  Having said that, Elisabeth Moss is generally worth watching (and we'll be seeing her again VERY soon), so I approached it with at least some level of curiosity, if not exactly interest.

And yeah, having watched it, it's a made up story featuring some real and some fictional people in a mixture of believable and completely unbelievable situations.  However, it is at least populated with fleshed out characters who are portrayed well - Elisabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlberg are definitely suitably creepy.  Odessa Young, who I'd never seen in anything before, does a good job giving off "wtf is going on here?" vibes - although tbh it probably didn't require too much effort for a lot of the film because seriously, wtf is going on here?  It's also well shot with very impressive period details and some stunningly beautiful shots.  

Putting this all together results in some impressive vignettes in the film - but the problem for me is that they don't really add up to anything with the overall story not really going anywhere (and the ending doesn't really help here either, suggesting we're back to square one).   I also didn't really understand what kind of genre the film was trying to occupy - it felt like somewhere between a character study and a "mildly bizarre as opposed to scary" horror.  Wikipedia goes for "psychological drama" which I mean, yeah, OK I guess.  If that actually means anything.  

Interestingly, Wikipedia also tells me that Shirley and Stanley actually had 4 kids at the time that the film is set, but the fictionalisation means that their existence is erased - that must have been an interesting one for them when they watched it.  I also learned that she wrote "The Haunting Of Hill House" which was adapted by Sky last year to considerable acclaim (but was far too scary for me to actually watch!).  However, going back to the film, I'd say it's worth watching if you want to see some acting and/or cinematography skills, but if you're looking for a story to engage with, then I'm afraid I just didn't get it. 

At the time of writing the film is available to rent on various UK streaming services but personally I can't say there's a lot there unless you're a huge Shirley Jackson fan.  And even then, it's not clear it's really that relevant to the real Shirley, so you might be massively disappointed by the whole thing - probably safest to steer clear just in case. 

#45 - A very odd film
#43 - A surprisingly enjoyable experience