Part of SFFILM Festival
Shirley
Description
A psychological drama dipped in acid, this darkly funny fictional portrait of writer Shirley Jackson (“The Lottery”) soars on Elisabeth Moss’s fearless eponymous performance. Stricken with writer’s block and under the thumb of her controlling husband (Michael Stuhlbarg), Shirley unleashes her acerbic tongue on young houseguests Fred and Rose. In its dark wit and depiction of marital discord, Shirley bears a resemblance to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? while also dishing up sharp observations of a half-mad woman rebelling against 1950s submissive womanhood.
“As willfully unconventional as a literary portrait could possibly be, Madeline’s Madeline director Josephine Decker’s take on Shirley Jackson is a thrillingly perverse example of what happens when the shackles of biopic formula are cast aside.” –Benjamin Lee, The Guardian
Josephine Decker made her feature directing debut with Butter on the Latch in 2013. Her other features include Thou Wast Mild and Lovely (2014) and Madeline’s Madeline (2018). Decker received a US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Auteur Filmmaking for Shirley.
Film Details
Language English
Year 2019
Runtime 107
Country USA
Director Josephine Decker
Producer Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Sue Naegle, Sarah Gubbins, Jeffrey Soros, Simon Horsman, Elisabeth Moss
Writer Sarah Gubbins
Editor David Barker
Cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen
Music Tamar-kali
Cast Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Odessa Young
Print Source
NEON
claire@neonrated.com
http://neonrated.com/
