Shirley: Biopic about Shirley Jackson, set around the time she was writing Hangsaman. Shirley (Elizabeth Moss) is in the throes of depression when a young couple, Fred and Rose Nemeste (not West) come to stay with her and her professor husband Stanley (Michael Stuhlbarg) In Vermont. A story about infidelity, a missing girl, suspicions. A dark atmosphere builds up in the house, Rose (Odessa Young) tries to help Shirley around the house, does research for her, even spying on others, becomes her muse. Fred (Logan Lerman) is an assistant to Stanley and is bullied by him, his work unfairly criticised. But Fred joins in with Stanley in having affairs with students. Tensions rise, the house has a real Gothic atmosphere, it seems to inspire and yet trap Shirley. The possibility of a real killer stalking the nearby woods adds to the frisson that descends on Shirley and Rose. Perhaps a tad too melodramatic at time but certainly worth watching. There is a resonance with Things Heard & Seen. Directed by Josephine Decker from a screenplay by Sarah Gubbins. On Netflix. 7/10.
