There’s something about Mary
Mary Shelley (M, 121 mins) Directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour ★★★
British author and bookshop owner William Godwin (Stephen Dillane) had always encouraged his first daughter Mary (Elle Fanning) to read.
But while he hoped she’d study classics like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales or Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Mary prefers anything ‘‘that curdles the blood and quickens the heart’’.
Inspired, the 16-year-old has even begun writing her own ‘‘ghost stories’’.
However, clashes with her stepmother (Joanne Froggatt) and her father’s perilous financial situation mean Mary is shipped off to Scotland for ‘‘introspection’’ and to find her ‘‘own voice’’.
Instead though, it’s someone else’s who overwhelms her.
Five years her senior, Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Booth) is a bon vivant and radical poet whose charisma is seemingly irresistible. Wooing her with his words, Mary is heartbroken when she is recalled south because her half-sister Claire (Bel Powley) is poorly. Much to her chagrin, it’s only boredom her sibling is ‘‘dying’’ of.
All hope is not lost though as, much to Mary’s surprise, Percy pursues her, taking up a position as her father’s protege just to be near her. However, there’s another secret (or two) that Percy has been keeping that could permanently derail her happiness.
Part-biopic, part-creation story for ‘‘one of the most complete and original publications of its age’’ (1818’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus), Saudi director Haifaa Al-Mansour’s (Wadjda) sumptuously shot tale is blighted by inconsistent pacing and tone.
Working from first-time Australian screenwriter Emma Jensen’s portent-laden and themefilled script, the first half in particular feels a little too choppy, episodic and melodramatic, as Mary befalls one heartache or tragedy after another.
Veering from upbeat rom-com to Jane Austen-esque family drama, it all feels a little too condensed, convenient and contrived.
Things improve as our heroine discovers Galvanism and decamps to a dark and stormy Lake Geneva. There’s also some modern interest in the movie’s themes of authorship and rising feminism, as a contrast to upcoming contemporary drama The Wife and because this was a film made just before the rise of #MeToo (it had its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival last year).
But while Fanning (The Neon Demon, The Beguiled) proves she can carry a film, the impressive ensemble (which also includes Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams) are saddled with fairly onedimensional characters.
Another modern example of a story that probably would have worked better in a longer format.