'Shirley' A Review

Shirley is a psycho/sexual thriller bizarrely masquerading as a biopic about a young couple going to live with writer Shirley Jackson(Elisabeth Moss) and her professor husband Stanley(Michael Stuhlbarg) in the early 60's. Fred(Logan Lerman) is a post-doc in service to Stanley and due to Shirley's mental health/substance abuse/psychic powers-witchcraft(?) Fred's wife Rose(Odessa Young) is forced to become the defacto housekeeper. A strange and nearly incomprehensible farce (unintentional) ensues.

Moss gives a big performance and perhaps in a different production with a different script this could really soar but here it makes an already confusing story even more muddled. Moss's Shirley oscillates so quickly and so broadly from normal human to unintelligible prophetess to righteous vengeful housewife in aggregate the character makes no sense and it is transparently actor Elisabeth Moss giving a capital P Performance. Stuhlbarg seems to relish his opportunity to play a manipulative lecherous professor, and good on him I guess, but the result is patently unlikable and uninteresting and seemingly purposeless. Lerman's character is so underwritten and he has so little screentime his inclusion is irrelevant. Young is the only one that convey's anything like an actual character, and she is compelling, but any in roads she makes are rendered moot given all the noise which surrounds her.

Speaking of noise, the near ever-present writhing score is a constant distraction and its assertiveness seems to convey a lack of confidence in the material rather than bolstering it up. Instead of letting the viewer settle in to the creepy cloying feel of the film the score telegraphs it's intent. The film is almost exclusively shot in shaky hand held and, again, it's a distraction and shows a lack of trust in the actors and the script forcing us into a particular mood which feels ever more contrived as it progresses. The period production design and costumes are fantastic.

The story itself is some what baffling, it has wonderful ambition but the actuality is more wannabe decrepit Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? And the use of actual author Shirley Jackson as a character actually undercuts its intent significantly as the story seemingly has no semblance to reality. The other major issue is that of tone. The film flips through different genres and there is the implication of many things but in total nothing is ever clear. Is this a supernatural tale? A crime story? A bedroom drama? The film flits and flirts but never settles so the result is muddled.

Perhaps for those with interest in the avant-garde over narrative clarity.

Currently streaming on Hulu.

Don't See It.