Stephen C
Based on a true story in 2 hours even!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $97,300.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
09/30/25
Full Review
Mike W
I liked the movie more than enjoyed it and recommend people see it if they have interest in the Romanticist period of authors and poetry. The movie improved my understanding of Mary and Percy Shelley's lives, and Byron's.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
09/20/25
Full Review
Brody M
Director Haifaa al-Mansour’s rendition of Mary Shelley’s life was a half-assed attempt to create a Victorian chick-flick; it fell short of even this easily-attainable goal. The movie followed Mary Shelley across her formative years and into early-adulthood, as she became increasingly infatuated with the manipulative character of Percy. The events which inspired their meeting and the characters’ actions were obvious to the audience (too obvious, to the point that their reasonings felt overstated and ran counter to character growth). Mary Shelley’s intense and traumatic life, evidenced by her encounters with Lord Byron and the loss of her child and running away from her family, were done an injustice by being portrayed in the manner that they were. The pacing of this movie was piss-poor, and was the most glaring flaw even to the uninformed, uninitiated, general public which must have made up the foundational consuming body & targeted audience for this movie, because only a common man with sub-average IQ could thoroughly convince themselves to enjoy such an abominable, abhorrent, disgusting addition to movies (if it can even be called such a thing). The soundtrack to this film was its only redeeming quality, and even in this goal it failed; the music was flat and did not match the tone created by the cinematography and acting. Additionally, the music placement within the film missed the mark. The cinematography was actually lower-middle tier, when compared with the general population of movies. Jump-cuts were often overused, and no creative camera angles or filing styles were utilized. Overall, this movie was a tremendous waste of time and I wish that my mind had not been tainted by its sub-par messaging and themes.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
05/23/25
Full Review
Jacob G
The movie “Mary Shelly” was one of the most disappointing pieces of directing I've ever seen. It follows a group of talented actors through a mindless plot and extremely poor pacing.
The camera work and production costs are clearly high, making it even more of a shame for the director. I finished the movie happy nonetheless because it did throw together a nice feel-good ending. Overall it is truly a testament to how impressive it was for Mary Shelly to put together such a wonderful novel.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
05/23/25
Full Review
Kaiya b
Mary Shelley (2018) proved to be an interesting depiction of the life and times of famous author, Mary Shelley. The film depicts Shelley’s life, highlighting the key aspects of her life that drew her to write her classic gothic novel, Frankenstein. Throughout the film, we watch Shelley run from home with her half sister, Claire, in an effort to start a life for herself with a stuck up and married man, which has its consequences. The title role, Mary Shelley, played by Elle Fanning, was executed in a beautifully tragic fashion. Her costars, on the other hand, failed to match her energy at a margin that made the film a tough watch. Director Haifaa al-Mansour captured Mary Shelley’s struggle as a female trying to pave her way in a male-dominated world was truly inspiring and, when reading the director’s background, it makes sense that she could so masterfully shape such a character. The cinematography was fairly good. The simplicity of the shots was crucial to telling the story, though got bland or boring as the story continued. The setting was dark and dreary, setting the stage for the mood of Shelley’s life, and later of her novel, which was an intelligent choice. The sound design contained straining orchestral music that conveyed the mood of the story in a subtle, though once recognized, quite dramatic way, which I enjoyed. The theme of feminism and the effects of abandonment were clear, but were connected quite sloppily to the novel itself. There seemed to be too much random and unnecessary tension, both sexual and emotional, between all characters, taking away largely from the true themes. The script was, for a lack of a better term, quite poor. The film seemed to drag on, and the “message” that the movie attempted to spread was poorly written into the plot, though the film was quite literally created to explain this message.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
05/22/25
Full Review
Izzy N
The film “Mary Shelley” directed by Haifaa al-Mansour certainly is an interesting watch but ultimately falls victim to the attempt to tow the line between a respectful/factual presentation of the renowned author's life while also satisfying the dramatic entertainment required of romantic period movies of this type. The film follows the life of young Mary Shelley between the time she is 16 and her publication of Frankenstein, widely considered to be a literary masterpiece. Between this small period of a few years she faces many hardships, she runs away with tumultuous Percy Shelley to start a new life and is cast out by her father due to this decision. She becomes pregnant with a baby girl and tragically ends up losing her at a very young age. While this is happening she also faces the pressure of looking out for her sister who has her own issues regarding another poet and a baby. I have to give the movie credit for its set design. I thought that the lighting was particularly fitting to the tone and the environment was representative of the time, the way in which the houses looked internally and also with the way in which the characters were dressed fit the time period. However beyond that is where the problems begin. The acting wasn’t bad, in fact Elle Fanning gave a particularly respectable performance and was the acting standout for me. The area where I draw the most issue arises from the way the plot was handled. The pacing was poorly executed and it felt as though the scenes were just jumping around instead of transitioning smoothly from each arc. Mary Shelley has an especially interesting life that wasn’t portrayed in this film to its full potential. Something in particular that bothered me was the portrayal of her writing Frankenstein. The movie does show her having a dream that is meant to be about her late baby, but after that it is portrayed as though she wrote Frankenstein because of her troubles with Percy Shelley, which likely did contribute to the story but there were also so many other factors. This includes the abandonment she felt from her father, the grief at losing her baby, and other difficulties that expand beyond simply being upset by her husband. This film is still worth a watch for those who are interested in classic literature because it does provide some insight into the renowned authors life, but don't go into this expecting it to be groundbreaking.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
05/22/25
Full Review
Read all reviews
Continue with Google
>
