Mary Shelley gets to theaters in the U.S.
Mary Shelley, the film version of the Frankenstein author’s story, directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour and starring Elle Fanning as Mary Shelley arrives at theaters in America on May 25th, 2018, from IFC Films. The film which we’ve been following from its inception a few years ago under the title “A Storm in the Stars”, to its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival has taken the long road of an independent film production to the big screen, released in the UK in 2017.
The movie, an Irish production, filmed on location in Dublin standing in for London, and in Luxemburg for the Geneva Villa Diodati scenes tells the story of teenage Mary dreaming of writing, finding inspiration when she meets the dreamy Percy Shelley. Mary soon becomes pregnant with his child, a daughter who tragically dies. They are outcast by polite society and visit Lord Byron and John Polidori at the Villa Diodati in Lake Geneva, where the stormy night ghost contest story gives birth to the Frankenstein monster story. Then, Mary struggles to find a publisher and to get the credit for her creation.
The film also stars Douglas Booth, Bel Powley, Maisie Williams, Joanne Froggatt and Stephen Dillane. The original script was by Emma Jenson with Al Mansour as additional writing. Ruth Coad and Amy Baer produced.
Reviews for the film have been mixed. To sample a few – Fanning gives an earnest performance, though perhaps a little miscast, while Tom Sturrage as Byron chews the furniture, and Booth as Shelley pouts and broods, a traditional period biopic flavor trying hard to be modern. The film does make a mark for inclusion, written by a woman, directed by a woman, and produced by women, and adds a decided feminist cant to the story around whether Mary would get the credit for writing her story. Shelley comes off as a bit of a cad, not revealing he’s married until after they get involved, but in fact Mary went into the relationship with her eyes open and she had already met his wife. Though, he does arrive at a saving bit of honor in the perfunctory, tied-in-a-bow ending. Beautifully photographed by David Ungaro, with moody atmospheric production design by Paki Smith, the film is a little more intent on stating its theme, than illuminating the complex characters and relationships which make up this world. Still room for more.