"MARY SHELLEY" 3 stars Elle Fanning, Maisie Williams, Ben Hardy, Stephen Dillane, Douglas Booth; PG-13 (sexuality and thematic elements including substance abuse); Broadway
Mary Shelley is probably not what you would expect it to be or at least not as much of what you would expect it to be. But even if it takes an unexpected path to its finish line, the payoff is worthwhile.
Haifaa Al-Mansours film is a biopic about the author of the early 19th-century novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, which for some, marks ground zero for the science fiction genre. But Mary Shelley doesnt spend a lot of time on exotic electric experimentation or the reanimation of dead tissue. Nor does it spend much time on the aftermath of the authors landmark novel and the long-term fruits of her labors.
Rather, Mary Shelley is more of a romantic drama, focusing on the authors teenage years that run up to Frankensteins 1818 publication. According to the film, it is that romance in Shelleys life or rather, the tumultuous drama it spawned that inspired the book.
We meet Mary (Elle Fanning) as a 16-year-old girl in London, frequently ducking out of her duties at her fathers dusty bookshop to read ghost stories and experiment with her own prose in a nearby cemetery. She comes from a literary family her mother was a prolific writer and an advocate for womens rights before dying shortly after Shelleys birth but her father (Stephen Dillane) would rather she steer her interests into more legitimate genres.
It's with this in mind that he sends Mary to Scotland, with the charge to find your own voice. Instead, she finds her muse: Percy Shelley (Douglas Booth), a wealthy and already successful poet who swiftly captures Marys heart and doesnt tell her he already has a wife and child.
Most of Mary Shelley is built around the twists and turns of this relationship, as Mary and Percy run off together with Marys sister Claire (Bel Powley) in tow and struggle against a variety of financial, social and romantic troubles. Along the way, Mary must evolve from her shortsighted idealism into the state that eventually produces Frankenstein.
Fans of Shelleys book, or the horror/science fiction genre in general, may be disappointed to only get fleeting glimpses of the specific inspirations that led to that murky, dungeonlike laboratory where Dr. Frankenstein brought his creation to life, and more informed audiences may bristle over the films historical accuracy. But Mary Shelley succeeds where many films fail, in that Al-Mansour, who also directed 2012s Wadjda, spends enough time with her protagonist to really bring the character to life.
You can read Mary Shelley as a critique of the kind of naive, youthful arrogance that questions the wisdom of those who have come before, and its easy to see how its themes may be applied today (though, again, that may just be a reflection of its modern interpretation). Mary sets off with Percy on a quest to achieve a kind of morally uninhibited lifestyle, but when she sees its reality, she realizes she harbors other, stronger values deep down.
Fanning is excellent as Mary, emoting maturity and growing wisdom juxtaposed against fading youth and innocence. Though she gets support from Booth and Tom Sturridge, who plays Lord Byron, another reckless and wealthy artist, Fanning carries the film on her shoulders and does an impressive job.
Horror fans may yearn for more of the macabre, and its historical groundings may be up for debate, but Mary Shelley is an engaging character study and a celebration of a landmark author.
"Mary Shelley" is rated PG-13 for sexuality and thematic elements including substance abuse; running time: 120 minutes.
Mary Shelley is probably not what you would expect it to be or at least not as much of what you would expect it to be. But even if it takes an unexpected path to its finish line, the payoff is worthwhile.
Haifaa Al-Mansours film is a biopic about the author of the early 19th-century novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, which for some, marks ground zero for the science fiction genre. But Mary Shelley doesnt spend a lot of time on exotic electric experimentation or the reanimation of dead tissue. Nor does it spend much time on the aftermath of the authors landmark novel and the long-term fruits of her labors.
Rather, Mary Shelley is more of a romantic drama, focusing on the authors teenage years that run up to Frankensteins 1818 publication. According to the film, it is that romance in Shelleys life or rather, the tumultuous drama it spawned that inspired the book.
We meet Mary (Elle Fanning) as a 16-year-old girl in London, frequently ducking out of her duties at her fathers dusty bookshop to read ghost stories and experiment with her own prose in a nearby cemetery. She comes from a literary family her mother was a prolific writer and an advocate for womens rights before dying shortly after Shelleys birth but her father (Stephen Dillane) would rather she steer her interests into more legitimate genres.
It's with this in mind that he sends Mary to Scotland, with the charge to find your own voice. Instead, she finds her muse: Percy Shelley (Douglas Booth), a wealthy and already successful poet who swiftly captures Marys heart and doesnt tell her he already has a wife and child.
Most of Mary Shelley is built around the twists and turns of this relationship, as Mary and Percy run off together with Marys sister Claire (Bel Powley) in tow and struggle against a variety of financial, social and romantic troubles. Along the way, Mary must evolve from her shortsighted idealism into the state that eventually produces Frankenstein.
Fans of Shelleys book, or the horror/science fiction genre in general, may be disappointed to only get fleeting glimpses of the specific inspirations that led to that murky, dungeonlike laboratory where Dr. Frankenstein brought his creation to life, and more informed audiences may bristle over the films historical accuracy. But Mary Shelley succeeds where many films fail, in that Al-Mansour, who also directed 2012s Wadjda, spends enough time with her protagonist to really bring the character to life.
You can read Mary Shelley as a critique of the kind of naive, youthful arrogance that questions the wisdom of those who have come before, and its easy to see how its themes may be applied today (though, again, that may just be a reflection of its modern interpretation). Mary sets off with Percy on a quest to achieve a kind of morally uninhibited lifestyle, but when she sees its reality, she realizes she harbors other, stronger values deep down.
Fanning is excellent as Mary, emoting maturity and growing wisdom juxtaposed against fading youth and innocence. Though she gets support from Booth and Tom Sturridge, who plays Lord Byron, another reckless and wealthy artist, Fanning carries the film on her shoulders and does an impressive job.
Horror fans may yearn for more of the macabre, and its historical groundings may be up for debate, but Mary Shelley is an engaging character study and a celebration of a landmark author.
"Mary Shelley" is rated PG-13 for sexuality and thematic elements including substance abuse; running time: 120 minutes.
