I don’t necessarily buy into the whole idea of “you shouldn’t make conventional films about unconventional people,” a criticism that has been laid on many biopics over the years, some of which I disagree wholeheartedly on, such as Man On The Moon for example. However, with Mary Shelley, I can understand that thought process, even if I still don’t totally believe it. For most of the running time, my mind kept thinking about one of the best films of last year, Professor Marston And The Wonder Women. That’s a film I would describe as conventional, but I found that to be a huge part of why it worked in how it took something radical and put it in a mundane framing to great effect.
I think Mary Shelley was trying to be the same way, especially given how both films dealt with the struggles of artists who were in very unorthodox relationships and held views that are very progressive for their time. Professor Marston was done like a classic Hollywood biopic about oppressed individuals. Mary Shelley goes for the classic costume drama vibe. Though, it comes nowhere near as close to achieving the level of success that Professor Marston did (artistically speaking at least, unfortunately Professor Marston was a major bomb, seriously, go watch it).
If you don’t already know, Mary Shelley is damn near invented what we consider “science fiction” with her literary masterpiece, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The film takes place mostly before the writing of her book, instead exploring Mary’s (Elle Fanning) life as she began a love affair with the poet Percy Shelley (Douglas Booth), and gaining inspiration over time that eventually culminates into the famous book.
The film is directed by Haifaa al-Mansour, a name worth knowing because she is the very first Saudi filmmaker, who notably had to deal with various inconveniences in filming her her 2012 debut film, Wadjda, such as having to direct the film with a walkie-talkie while sitting in the back of a van because she cannot be amongst her male crew members. Wadjda is excellent by the way, that’s another film I highly recommend. It doesn’t take a genius to see what she saw in this project, in Mary Shelley as a character, this fearless, but vulnerable and trailblazing woman who had to deal with a lot of pain and struggle to get her art made and recognized while being scoffed by the men around her. I believe that she sees a bit of herself in Shelley, and you’d think it would make a perfect fit.
Unfortunately, the film isn’t great. I do think it’s totally watchable, it’s a well made film, and the performances are solid across the board, I especially enjoyed Tom Sturridge as Lord Byron. However, the film is intensely bland and very forgettable. There isn’t much verve or style to speak of; the sparks of gothic melodrama and romance are momentary at best. It just never comes to life. Everything is played very straightforward and very obvious. And that goes double for all the moments where the film stops to go “hey, this is where Mary got this part of the Frankenstein story,” which also came off as awkward and stilted, not unlike the recent Solo: A Star Wars Story.
It’s a shame because it’s clear that Mary Shelley led a strange, fascinating, and complex life that is absolutely ripe for a film, but this doesn’t really do her story justice. I don’t feel like I understand on her on a much deeper level here versus if I just went on Wikipedia and read over her life story. It doesn’t give her much context either, I don’t get the sense of what kind of environment she is surrounded by in early 19th century Britain. It’s missing something that could offer a more compelling understanding of her as a forward thinking writer at this time period, but it just feels very basic, like a high school paper written by a student who only just now realized that there might be parallels between Mary Shelley’s life and the people around her to the characters and events of the book.
If you know absolutely nothing about Mary Shelley, I do think the film is a more than serviceable little drama that can give you a solid rundown of who she is and why she is so revered. However, if you want something that digs deeper, that has something to say, and can say it in a way that is very evocative and cinematic, then this will undoubtedly disappoint. I do hope that Haifaa al-Mansour bounces back from this. It’s definitely far from a disaster, I think it looks quite nice, I like the costumes, and Elle Fanning is terrific. Though, I can’t speak really to the overall accuracy of the film, I can’t help but feel that given her lasting impact on pop culture throughout the world in the last couple centuries, this definitely falls short of that legacy.