Shirley (2020)

Directed by: Josephine Decker | 107 minutes | biography, drama | Actors: Elisabeth Moss, Odessa Young, Michael Stuhlbarg, Logan Lerman, Victoria Pedretti, Robert Wuhl, Paul O’Brien, Orlagh Cassidy, Bisserat Tseggai, Allen McCullough, Tony Manna, Molly Fahey, Edward O’Blenis, Ryan Spahn, Vincent McCauley , Emily Decker, Kecia Lewis

In 2018 there was the – incidentally very successful – film adaptation of ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’, starring Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario and Sebastian Stan. In the same year, ‘our’ Michiel Huisman starred in the enthusiastically received ten-part Netflix series ‘The Haunting of Hill House’. You could say that the oeuvre of the American horror and mystery writer Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) is in demand again. It seems that a new film adaptation of her hair-raising short story ‘The Lottery’ is also in the pipeline. To give an idea of ​​her style: ‘The Lottery’ is about a town where lots are drawn every year to determine who will be stoned (!). So nice aunt, our Shirley. Susan Scarf Merrell finds her so fascinating that she wrote the novel ‘Shirley’, a biography but one where reality is made more than once. It is Merrell’s ode to Jackson, a tribute that hovers between fact and fiction. Filmmaker Josephine Decker (known for the sensuality-infused ‘Madeline’s Madeline’, 2018) adapted Merrell’s book into a film and took on none other than Elisabeth Moss, who took on the challenging role of the elusive writing legend with both hands.

For the most part, Shirley (2020) is set in the author’s home, where she lives with her husband, literary critic and educator Stanley Hyman (the ever-excellent Michael Stuhlbarg). Shirley is working on her second book ‘Hangsaman’ (1951), inspired by the true disappearance of eighteen-year-old college student Paula Jean Welden when she and Stanley are visited by a young newlywed couple, Fred (Logan Lerman) and Rose. (Odesa Young). Stanley invited them because Fred is going to help him in college next semester. So they will stay for a while. Because Shirley has ‘cures’ – she not only struggles with writer’s block, depression and agoraphobia, but also has a tendency to alcoholism and barely gets out of bed – Stanley suggests that Rose help her with the housework. The film focuses on the mutual relationships between the couples, but especially on the dynamics between Shirley and Rose. Stanley calls his marriage to Shirley ‘a Scottish play’, because they are ‘people who go rogue against madness’. And let’s face it: as a typical ‘tormented writer’ she is not easy to live with, but neither is he. Outwardly, Stanley is very jovial, but in the meantime he has overbearing and selfish ways. He is unfaithful to his wife. He is not particularly fond of her work and does not miss an opportunity to rub it in her.

Perhaps even more interesting than the relationship between Stanley and Shirley is the dynamic between Shirley and Rose. At first, Rose – pregnant with her first child – is green and yellow annoyed by her new blunt, lazy and unsympathetic roommate, whom she calls a ‘monster’ and a ‘witch’. Over time, however, the two grow closer, especially when Shirley asks her to help with research for her book and sees in her a new muse. Her dark thoughts, which Shirley believes people are afraid of, seem to increasingly take possession of Rose, who in turn seems to be turning into the main character of Shirley’s book. Is Rose really changing or are we looking at her through Shirley’s eyes? It is not always clear whether we are looking at what really happens or whether the events take place in Shirley’s world, but that Rose is not the good girl we initially mistake her for, she already reveals in the first scene in which she after reading of ‘The Lottery’ is so excited that she spontaneously dives into the toilet on the train with Fred for some violent lovemaking. That shimmer permeates Decker throughout the film, while in between she also hints at her critique of the oppressive morals and expectations that plagued women at the time (and in a sense still do). She also captures excellently how the perception of artists such as Shirley can mislead the outside world.

It’s only a matter of time before Elisabeth Moss lands her first Oscar nomination. And given the limited number of films to be released in 2020, ‘Shirley’ could well be the film that will earn her that long-awaited and well-deserved honor. In a very heavy role, Moss gives everything she has, with astonishing results. Like Shirley, she looks tired, wrung and bitter. Is it because of her husband’s infidelity or the way he keeps her down? Or is it simply the case that someone who writes such books must also have a turbulent and inscrutable inner self? Stuhlbarg and Young also deliver top performances. The dingy, chaotic house where she lives with Stanley also contributes greatly to the atmosphere, as does the great camera work that smoothly blends reality and imagination. The camera is so close behind the characters that you simply can’t look away because you get mesmerized by Shirley and Rose. The mysterious whispering choirs and creaky floors complete the fascinating spell of ‘Shirley’.