Mary Shelley

(M, 121mins)

Directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour ★★★

Reviewed by James Croot

‘To be reading, is to have anything within your reach.’’ 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 such as 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 see Mary shipped off to Scotland for ‘‘introspection’’ and to find her ‘‘own voice’’.

Instead, 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’s recalled south because her half-sister Claire (Bel Powley) is poorly. To her chagrin, it’s only boredom her sibling is ‘‘dying’’ of.

All hope is not lost as, much to Mary’s surprise, Percy takes 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 theme-filled 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 romcom 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, both as a contrast to upcoming contemporary drama The Wife and because this was a film made just before the rise of #MeToo.

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 one-dimensional characters.

Another modern example of a story that probably would have worked better in a longer format.

Part-biopic, part-creation story, Mary Shelley would have worked better in a longer format.