Elisabeth Moss portrays Shirley Jackson as a confused, troubled, and brilliant writer. Moss’s Jackson drinks too much, sleeps all day, and rarely leaves the house. But, Jackson loves to write and this movie tells the story of the writing of The Hangman, a story of a missing college student.
Director Josephine Decker and screenwriter Sarah Grubbins set up the action through the characters of a young couple–Rose (Odessa Young) and doctoral English student Fred (Logan Lerman). Jackson’s pretentious and philandering professor husband, Stanley (Michael Stuhlbarg), manages to convince Rose and Fred to stay in the house with him and his disturbed wife. Fred helps Stanley with his classes at Bennington College while Rose cooks and cleans.
Shirley Jackson and Rose form a quirky relationship while secrets swirl around both of them. If you have an interest in Shirley Jackson, this biopic will fascinate you. Elisabeth Moss’s performance deserves an Oscar nomination. Are you a Shirley Jackson fan? GRADE: B
I love The Haunting of Hill House, we Have Always Lived in the Castle and several of her short stories. I read The Sundial but can’t remember anything about it,. I haven’t seen this yet. It is on my watch list. I have mixed feelings about Elizabeth Moss. She’s a good actress but always comes across to me as a bit creepy. Maybe it’s her Scientology “religion”.
Steve, Elizabeth Moss amps up her “creepy” factor in SHIRLEY. Of course, it seems that Shirley Jackson lived a macabre life.
I haven’t seen many new movies this year because of the plague, but this one is my favorite. Probably being a Jackson fan helps, but I think it could be enjoyed by people who never heard of her. “Hangsaman” is not one of the novels I’ve read but I just got it from Amazon and hope to get to it soon. Moss is excellent, as always, and Steve is right–she is a bit creepy. I’d forgotten about the Scientology connection, but that may explain it.
By the way, I can’t find any indication that this is available on Netflix. I saw it on Hulu, and it’s available for rental on Amazon.
Michael, you’re right. I saw SHIRLEY on HULU, not Netflix. I’ve been watching so much on streaming services, I get mixed up! That’s for the heads up!
I recently discovered a wonderful new website justwatch.com . You can enter any title in the search box and it will show you where it’s available, whether it’s on a subscription service like Netflix or Hulu, or available for rental or purchase, including the price.
Michael, I’ll have to give justwatch.com a try. Thanks for the recommendation!
I guess you’re just lucky you can afford all those streaming services. Our cable bill is over $250 and we don’t have any.
Rick, I negotiate with SPECTRUM cable. Just threaten with your cable provider with “cutting the cord” and they’ll reduce their prices fast!
I do want to see this because I”m a big Jackson fan – HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, the short stories, the humorous books, etc. I agree on Moss, and the whole Scientology thing is a major turn-off too.
Jeff, in this role, Elizabeth Moss’s weirdness works to her advantage.
I saw it on HULU too and I liked it although the absence of her four children was puzzling. Surely their care would explain her nuttiness. She is one of my favorite writers and I mostly admired the way Decker set this up to have the younger woman be her muse, her younger self, the murdered girl by turns. Decker directed at episode of DARE ME, which I especially liked.
Patti, Katie pointed out that Shirley Jackson had four children–but they’re not in this movie (or referred to). Strange. Shirley Jackson’s husband remarried after she died and had another child with his second wife.
I came here to say the same thing about her kids—they were an integral part of Jackson’s life, and she even write a couple of humorous Erma Bombeck-esque books about them—why leave them out? Unless they refused to grant permission to the filmmakers—sort of like Joan Crawford’s youngest two kids who said “Mommy Dearest” was a pack of lies and refused to even allow the movie to make reference to the fact that they existed.
I’m interested in seeing this, but Moss’s Scientology connections don’t help her. She’s always got this weird vibe—but perhaps that works for this movie.
Deb, the absence of Shirley Jackson’s children in this movie is a conundrum. But, your supposition might be the reason.