时间:2025-07-11 16:11:54 来源:网络整理编辑:娛樂
You don’t go into a Shirley Jackson biopic expecting a super fun time. An uncomfortable time,
You don’t go into a Shirley Jackson biopic expecting a super fun time. An uncomfortable time, sure. An unsettling time, absolutely. But a blend of thrill, wit, and seduction delivered through an electric ensemble performance that makes you want to bone in a lecture hall? Not so much.
And yet, that's what director Josephine Decker'sShirleyhas in store for streamers this weekend.
Based on Susan Scarf Merrell’s novel of the same name, Shirley takes a fresh look at the legendary writer behind iconic horror stories like The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. It's not a traditional biographical film; it takes substantial liberties to present fiction along with fact. But it is a rip-roaring watch worth every second of its runtime.
Call it an ode to bad behavior.
Elisabeth Moss leads as an uncannily well-acted Shirley Jackson, opposite Michael Stuhlbarg as her pompous literary critic-turned-professor husband Stanley Edgar Hyman. The two begin the film in a sort of marital cold war, with Stanley fighting to get his creatively blocked wife out of bed and back to work — and Shirley doing everything in her power to avoid being managed. With prickly jabs and moments of genuine affection aplenty, the duo could sustain a number of films (or stage plays) with their ever-changing, magnetic chemistry.
Logan Lerman and Odessa Young round out the cast as Fred and Rose Nemser, a young professor and his wife who come to stay with Stanley and Shirley “for a few days.” When Fred is given more duties as Stanley's teaching assistant and Rose is pressured into looking after the reclusive Shirley, the pair finds themselves permanent residents in the older couple's dysfunction.
A smooth blend of neo-noir, gothic fantasy, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Shirley tethers its timeline to Jackson writing her second novel Hangsaman. Loosely inspired by the 1946 disappearance of Paula Jean Welden from Bennington College (coincidentally, the school where Hyman taught), the novel hints at the emergence of second-wave feminism through an examination of a lonely female protagonist on the brink of collapse.
Immensely unflattering and smugly celebratory.
In Decker's telling, Shirley and Rose assume the roles of such women on the outskirts attempting to understand what causes others like them to become lost — not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically. Deep conversations on the nightmarish expectations of female existence and exploratory fact-finding missions into Welden's disappearance form the basis for a complex allegiance that guides the remainder of the film.
As their philandering husbands enjoy the spoils of 1960s sexism, Rose and Shirley grow closer and closer. Lingering glances and mischievous inside jokes become the catalyst for a mind-boggling new chapter in Shirley's legacy that is at once immensely unflattering and smugly celebratory. Call it an ode to bad behavior — a monument to thinking and acting for yourself no matter the cost.
Still, for every pithy one-liner and snarky display of independence, there is an instance of profound vulnerability. Shirley weaves superb dramatic and comedic acting from all four of its leads into a dream-like journey befitting Jackson's masterful literary style. Scenes of wine flowing onto pristine couches and unlucky background characters getting verbally ripped to shreds are matched with drawn-out depictions of fear, isolation, and sadness. It creates an even balance of highs and lows that makes for a supremely watchable reflection on literary history.
Far from what we expected, Shirley is a fun journey into the mind of an artist and her perilous process that is as laugh-out-loud funny as it is and fittingly horrific. It won't be for everybody, but neither was its namesake.
Shirley is now streaming on Hulu.
TopicsHulu
Singapore gets world's first driverless taxis2025-07-11 15:52
A winter storm is breaking snowfall records in the Southeast2025-07-11 15:12
Bannon called that Trump Jr. meeting 'treasonous' and the internet is losing it2025-07-11 15:04
A winter storm is breaking snowfall records in the Southeast2025-07-11 14:56
Slack goes down again, prompting anxiety everywhere2025-07-11 14:39
Hockey player tells his dad he made the Olympics in heartwarming video2025-07-11 14:35
A winter storm is breaking snowfall records in the Southeast2025-07-11 14:24
Man on 'Jeopardy!' learns the hard way to always keep it 'gangsta'2025-07-11 14:16
Hiddleswift finally followed each other on Instagram after 3 excruciating days2025-07-11 14:10
These photos of the extreme cold are deeply, sadly satisfying2025-07-11 14:06
U.S. government issues warning on McDonald's recalled wearable devices2025-07-11 15:59
Man on 'Jeopardy!' learns the hard way to always keep it 'gangsta'2025-07-11 15:32
Tesla's online trip planning tool shows driving and charging routes2025-07-11 15:08
These photos of the extreme cold are deeply, sadly satisfying2025-07-11 15:01
'Rocket League' Championship Series Season 2 offers $250,000 prize pool2025-07-11 15:00
Apple acquires Buddybuild, plans to shut it down to Android developers2025-07-11 14:57
These photos of the extreme cold are deeply, sadly satisfying2025-07-11 14:41
Ethereum crosses historic $1,000 milestone2025-07-11 14:21
Plane makes emergency landing after engine rips apart during flight2025-07-11 14:19
Eric Trump, the smarter one, tweets that Ellen DeGeneres is part of the #DeepState2025-07-11 14:16