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Shirley

Play trailer 1:52 Poster for Shirley R Released Jun 5, 2020 1h 47m Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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88% Tomatometer 262 Reviews 54% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.
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Shirley

Shirley

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Critics Consensus

Elevated by outstanding work from Elisabeth Moss, Shirley pays tribute to its subject's pioneering legacy with a biopic that ignores the commonly accepted boundaries of the form.

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Critics Reviews

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Charles Bramesco Inside Hook Shirley Jackson's life is adapted to a movie that's as complicated and interesting as the author's writing. Sep 21, 2021 Full Review Nick Schager Esquire Magazine Despair, desire, and madness are all entangled in Josephine Decker's Shirley... Jan 27, 2021 Full Review Becca James Chicago Reader A look at the very morose Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss), presented in a way that mimics the famed fiction author's horror writing... Dec 30, 2020 Full Review Francesca Steele iNews.co.uk Based on a book by Susan Scarf Merrell, this tremendously entertaining Gothic nightmare, directed by Josephine Decker, interweaves fact with feminist fiction. Rated: 4/5 Dec 10, 2024 Full Review Amy Smith InSession Film When a director makes a bold choice to tell the story of an icon in a different way, I always appreciate it. I am done with the traditional bio-pics. I want refreshing spins on them, and this is one of them. Rated: B Feb 29, 2024 Full Review Greg Carlson Vague Visages A vivid reminder of an unrealized future... Feb 7, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Blu B I don't know man. I think it's an interesting idea and there are some interesting things presented but it just doesn't go anywhere for like 85% of the time. And the climax is just....a letdown I guess I don't know. Editing and pacing aren't good here. The cuts are so abrupt half the time and it feels like it never really links the stories of the four people/two couples sharing the house that well into something cohesive. It feels like stuff just happens. The writing the book, the tension between the husband and the grad student, the baby, the affair, the authors weird and disturbing behavior, a freakin lesbian romance that comes out of nowhere, it all just feels like it doesn't add up to much of anything really. Nothing says romance like someone trolling you about eating fake poison mushrooms I guess. Everything else is just alright. The acting is very campy and wooden save for Sthulbarg who is good but isn't in this eough. He's the only one with any emotion or charm or gets a reaction out of any of the other actors. Everyone else is a stick in the mud, not really likeable, or just forgettable. I wish the lighting in this was less dull because the direction isn't half bad. It would also help if these weird scenes actually had something to say. I feel like the end results would've happened even if these couples never moved in together honestly. Besides that I never really had a reason to care about anyone and the interest I did have didn't really make the slow burn pay off into anything worthwhile. Skip This. Maybe if there was more of Michael Sthulberg I'd say give it watch if your a fan but there just isn't enough of him either. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/25 Full Review Simon T This claustrophobic and disturbing biography of horror writer Shirley Jackson is quite testing, mainly because it tends to confine its characters to the dimly lit interiors of its large house and provides no glib psychological explanations for its principal characters' actions. Elisabeth Moss - playing yet another oddball - is Jackson; her creepily controlling husband is superlatively acted by Michael Stuhlbarg. The young newly-weds who have been invited to stay are Odessa Young and Logan Lerman. It's worth hanging in during the slightly confusing opening. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/25 Full Review Lucas G Very boring, slow, confusing and Elizabeth Moss is perhaps more unlikesble than ever before (and thats a big thing to say for her) For some reason this was presented as a horror. I found hard to focus or care and didn’t finish it. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 10/19/24 Full Review Robert T A contrived, manipulative piece of knee-jerk that has absolutely nothing to do with the real Shirley Jackson and Stanley Hyman. In real life they were functional, witty, idiosyncratic, perhaps oddballs -- not psychotic, alcoholic ragers. Just read any bio of Shirley Jackson. No wonder their children were upset by this fiction. Also, this story is so predictable and stupid that Shirley Jackson would have wadded it up and thrown it in her waste basket if it had occurred to her -- which it wouldn't. I give the film one star only for the excellent acting, especially Elizabeth Moss. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 04/05/24 Full Review Melissa L I don't know why the audience who rated this movie gave it such poor ratings. It was superb. I recommend it. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/26/24 Full Review Alec B I'm glad there was an attempt to emulate Jackson's writing style in this portrayal but the probing of the characters never gets beyond surface level observations. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/10/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Shirley

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Movie Info

Synopsis A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.
Director
Josephine Decker
Producer
Sarah Gubbins, David Hinojosa, Simon Horsman, Elisabeth Moss, Sue Naegle, Jeffrey Soros, Christine Vachon
Screenwriter
Sarah Gubbins
Distributor
Neon
Production Co
Los Angeles Media Fund, Mechanism Digital, Killer Films
Rating
R (Language|Brief Disturbing Images|Nudity|Sexual Content)
Genre
Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 5, 2020, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 4, 2020
Runtime
1h 47m
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