Stellead
Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful
Helloturia
I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.
Marva-nova
Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
sherlollyotp
First things first. If you're looking for a complete, understated biopic, this is not the film for you. Understated, 'Mary Shelley' is not. Captivating, it most certainly is. Emotionally powerful, visually beautiful, and positively immersive, it may not be pin-point accurate to history but I feel it is true to the spirit of those it portrays and the story it tells. It also doesn't fall into my least favourite biopic traps, like trying to show a person's whole life in one film, or being so cowed by history it forgets to have fun. It has a good, solid time frame, and ends exactly where it should. It is compelling and entertaining. There was so much more to Mary Shelley than the events depicted here, yes, but the story it tells is by no means an incomplete one. I couldn't recommend this film emphatically enough. Elle Fanning is pitch-perfect as Mary herself, capturing grand emotion and great genius without losing sight of her youth, and she carries the whole film beautifully. Douglas Booth is a wonderful Shelley, and gets extra props for making me care about a historical figure I've always disliked. Bel Powley gives a fantastic, sympathetic performance as Claire Clairmont, who deserved better and for whom I would die here. Tom Sturridge is a delightfully mercurial and rather hammy Byron, Ben Hardy an earnest and lovable Polidori. In fact, I can't think of a single performance I disliked. Is it a perfect film? No. Is it totally historically accurate? God, no. But did I, personally, love it? Oh, so much.
gradyharp
Emma Jensen took all the facts about the history of the creation of FRANKENSTEIN and with additional writing by Haifaa Al-Mansour, the first Saudi female director ever to direct a Hollywood film, the two ladies have created a marvelous period piece that is a dark psychological study of Mary Wollstonecroft Godwin as she comes to grips with a fragile love relationship (in a time when the concept of feminism didn't exist) and self discovery to write one of the great books of history - that infamous love affair between poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and 18 year old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, which resulted in Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein.As the film's synopsis states, She will forever be remembered as the writer who gave the world Frankenstein. But the real life story of Mary Shelley-and the creation of her immortal monster-is nearly as fantastical as her fiction. Raised by a renowned philosopher father (Stephen Dillane) in 18th-century London, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (Elle Fanning) is a teenage dreamer determined to make her mark on the world when she meets the dashing and brilliant poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Booth). So begins a torrid, bohemian love affair marked by both passion and personal tragedy that will transform Mary and fuel the writing of her Gothic masterwork. Imbued with the imaginative spirit of its heroine, Mary Shelley brings to life the world of a trailblazing woman who defied convention and channeled her innermost demons into a legend for the ages. The other characters who play a major role in this story include Dr John Polidori (Ben Hardy), Lord Byron (Tom Sturridge), Mary's sister Claire (Bel Powley), Percy's wife Harriet (Clara Charteris), and publisher Thomas Hogg (Jack Hickey)Though the story appears pushed into darkness a bit too often it does indeed create an atmosphere conducive to the genesis of Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN and the story is an important one on many levels. A very well done period piece.
Boristhemoggy
I know there are some erudite comments about the accuracy of the story, but as this is just a story and does not claim to be an autobiographical account of Mary Shelley's life, I feel some inaccuracies matter less.
The key thing for me is that the story was so excellently written using a diluted language of the day so as to be clearly understandable, and so brilliantly directed that there was never a dull or irrelevant moment and you felt encapsulated in the story the entire time, and the acting was so sublime so as to engage me wholly and perfectly both in the story and the execution of the story by the performers.
Elle Fanning has acted such a wide breadth of roles now that she must be viewed as one of Hollywoods finest. I have never been left wanting by any of her films and she always makes me totally believe in her character. For her to slip easily between the mind bending scenes of How to Talk to Girls at Parties and into a thoughtful and intense role such as Mary Shelley shows she has no fear of any role but every skill needed for them all.
My review is based on the writing, direction and acting an thoroughly deserves this almost perfect score.
Horacio Di Renzo (hdirenzo)
I love Frankenstein, one of my first novels I read when I was 12. One of the most interesting details about this is her author, a 18 years old lady named Mary. This films focus on her, and uses her story as an excuse to recreate the problematic situations of women two centuries ago.
This is a real love story. I am not sure about how accurate it is but the essence and the message is totally necessary. May be the rithm is a Little slow and repetitive but it has an exquisite music, very good direction, good actors and very emotional and human message. Give this honest film a try.
