When Working on Her Novel, an Author Faces Mental Troubles and Houseguests

Michael Stuhlbarg and Elisabeth Moss in "Shirley"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Shirley Jackson is an author whose life begs to be the subject of a psychological study.  Having written such mesmerizing short stories like “The Lottery” and novels like “The Haunting of Hill House” and “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” there’s the enticing question of from where the ideas for these stories could have come.  A venture inside the mind of one of American literature’s most prolific horror and mystery writers promises something both dark an eyeopening.

Director Josephine Decker offers such a story with her biographical drama, “Shirley,” a movie that’s led by a blazing performance from its star and a keen visual eye in bringing this biopic to life.

The story follows a young couple, Rose (Odessa Young) and Fred (Logan Lerman), who move to Vermont, with the hopes of Fred being offered a job as an assistant professor at Bennington College.  They are invited to move in with Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss) and her professor-husband, Stanley Edgar Hyman (Michael Stuhlbarg), with whom Fred will be working.  While everything is civil at first, Rose and Fred will soon become involved in the drama that inspires Jackson’s next novel.

Moss elicits a power that has us view the psychological torment that Jackson experiences on a daily basis.  We see the obsessiveness that she pours into her work to make sure that she gets whatever she can from her ideas.  It’s a performance that shows Jackson’s unwavering dedication to getting the character right, even showing how even sitting at a desk and trying to make an idea come to your head can cause anxiety as you try to perfect something.  Moss’ expressiveness invites us into her character’s mental fragility as Shirley navigates interactions with others and devotes herself over page after page of her latest novel.  It’s a superb display of the excitement and aggravation that comes with the creative process, and Moss will leave you stunned in her portrayal of an individual who does what she can to make sure that the world reads her stories.

Young delivers a performance that’s just as memorable as Moss’, portraying someone who has to work alongside Jackson and soon experiences the latter’s troubled nature, becoming unsettled by Shirley’s unpredictable behavior and trying to keep her own life in order, but also try to help Shirley make it from day to day.  As Rose’s personal problems come into play, Young provides emotional work as she shows her character trying to keep her life together as it threatens to break apart.

Stuhlbarg provides a terrific performance as Shirley’s critical-minded husband, someone who thinks he knows everything and assumes he knows what’s good for Shirley.  It’s a role that comes with humor, but also an effective ability to get on the viewer’s nerves.  Every time Stuhlbarg is on screen, you brace yourself to hear some harsh works, and he’ll have you alternating between chuckling and wanting to smack him.

The screenplay by Sarah Gubbins, which is based on Susan Scarf Merrell’s novel of the same name, doesn’t focus on Jackson’s life as a whole, but rather takes an intimate look at a certain chapter in her life that helps to exemplify who she was.  By just looking at this certain segment of Shirley’s career, we’re given plenty of details of this specific moment as we explore both her personal troubles and what compels her as a writer.  The interactions that the narrative constructs between Shirley and the other characters allow us to see how much her psychological issues impact her and her writing, providing us with enough insight into not only her life in that moment, but what she might have been like prior to the events of the film. 

While the drama that occurs between Rose and Fred can be intriguing at first, the time that’s spent between Rose and Shirley soon becomes much more interesting, and you soon find yourself favoring those segments of the film a little bit more, as well as the sequences where everyone is together.  It’s here where we’re given the meatier drama that sticks with you.

The cinematography by Sturla Brandth Grøvlen excels in the way it presents its closeups, framing characters as they have tense interactions, bringing us near them to help us feel the intensity of their performances.  The images and movements of the camera have a dreamlike quality to them, as if we’re experiencing how Shirley sees the world, and this keeps us captivated throughout as we investigate the depths of her mind.  Through this, Decker shows a distinct talent for visuals when tasked with presenting biopics in an innovative way. 

Aside from the wonderful use of closeups, Decker creates an ample amount of apprehension within the limited space of Shirley’s house.  The threat of animosity waits within the walls of the Jackson home, always ready crack the house open as the two couples spend more and more time together.  With the limited cast, Decker does well in getting the most out of their performances as she pits them against each other, and you’re left on edge wondering how the house will keep standing once all of this is over.

“Shirley” is a biopic that will keep you invested in the life of its titular character, which is more than appropriate for a movie about an author that kept you flipping the pages.

Grade: A-