 Thanks for checking out this movie review video This is for the 2020 release and shutter original a nightmare wakes and this film is coming to shutter on Thursday February 4th. So since I'm releasing this review ahead of that This is a no spoilers review except for kind of spoilers a little bit with some thematic things in the film But I won't really tell you, you know actual events or scary things or anything like that that ends up happening in the film Just know that now this was written and directed by Nora uncle and this is the individuals first feature film Did a bunch of short films prior to this so good job on making a feature film. That's awesome The synopsis of this gonna make it pretty vague So this is this is a film that's it's not gonna be for everyone And I'm gonna say that while I'm doing the synopsis basically and and you'll see why when I get to the synopsis It's not for everyone. There are certain people who are not gonna like this type of film There are gonna be some people who just think this film is a little bit too slow for what it is Some people are gonna think there's not enough horror It's way more drama and then there are gonna be some people who just love this for what it is Because it just hits that sweet spot for them So it's a particular niche film in a sense Which I have to give it credit for doing that in certain ways But also it also makes sure that you know you are going to you know put off a certain Portion of the horror community who will just not want to watch this film So that said the synopsis of it is basically this a lot of people are already know the story of Mary Shelley And how she came up with the story of Frankenstein So it kind of takes a look at that but it takes a little bit more of a modern look It's still set back in that time So it is a period piece but it has kind of modern Context given to the character of Mary Shelley and kind of compared in a way And you'll see what I mean if you watch the film And I'll talk a little bit more about that in a sense, but If that doesn't sound interesting to you like period piece about Mary Shelley kind of creating it It's probably not for you But there are gonna be certain people who kind of want to see This writer-director's take on who Mary Shelley was as a person Her theory on the characterization of that individual and kind of putting that like I was saying putting that modern context On this person and who they kind of seemed to potentially be it's taking a lot of liberties With who Mary Shelley potentially was because we don't know a ton a ton about who that individual was but that's fine And you know, that's what film is for is to make these you know I was gonna say suppositions, but it's not a supposition. Just just kind of create your own fiction around it So the beginning of the film just raises questions with the way it starts and that's a good thing I think it raised questions in a great way. It really sets the film up in a very interesting way to say What is really going on here and what happens in the very beginning that little scene ends up tying into the film And into the very end of it with you know, some of the underlying themes at play And I think this is a film that if you watch it a few times, there's probably a lot of extra stuff You can end up picking out of it so That's a good thing if people want to get into it It's a period piece Like I said and I think I wrote down that that I feel like that's a very ballsy move because like I was saying I feel like you're just naturally going to alienate a portion of the horror community But you know, this may not have been created for you know, horror crowd in mind it may have just been A film that was created and was like it'll find a crowd which I'm sure it will I'm sure it will The costuming sets and acting all keep with the period which helps you be immersed in what they're trying to create There's really nothing that pops up that takes you out of You know the kind of environment the atmosphere the time period that's being created here So that's good. I really have to kind of you know, give them a little clap for For the continuity of that stuff because that stuff's not easy to maintain in my opinion And I think one of the strongest things that keeps it going is really the acting the acting in this is quite good I think all of them did a good job I didn't see a single actor in this film that I was like They all delivered well and I feel like it's not easy to deliver lines that are written in a old much older time speak and do it convincingly and consistently and with a particular accent so They did a good job with that the music I think is well matched With this film It never really is There's maybe like one or two times where I felt like it was getting to be a little bit overdone Like a little too strong in certain portions But for the most part I think the music matched the scenes pretty well And I don't think they overdid it much at all I think they did a pretty good job of kind of restraining it and I'm a big proponent of kind of You know less is more when it comes to music And actually in the very beginning of the film there's there's no music for a little bit Which really helps you focus on the sound design of the film which the sound design is pretty well done for this film I'm I'm a fan of the sound design Especially how it's used in the very beginning of the film and kind of ends up being used that way a little bit Towards the end of the film again as well There is some free-moving camera work. That's a bit nauseating As it doesn't actually stay smooth enough for my liking Too much movement, you know up and down and all around is too much for me You know, it gets a little nauseating for me. I have a hard time focusing. Um Free-moving camera work not a problem all good, but when it's you know jostling way too much like it does in this film from time to time I don't like that Uh, I want it to be a little bit smoother now if it's jostling for a particular reason fine I think in certain instances it's intentional for that reason Because it can add to kind of like insight into how a character's feeling or their thought process, but At other times it just seems like it should not be Uh, there are scenes that are way too dark Lighting wise not material wise lighting wise and you can't see that well This is another thing I harp on with films if you're going to make a film Even if it needs to be in a dark situation Make sure it's lit enough that people can see what's going on. There are a bunch of sequences Where it's too dark. You can't really tell what's going on and at that point It's like why is that even on the screen, you know, like just have that stuff be off screen because we can't see what's happening You know, so I think it would help people if they watch the film in a dark room So that would help you see it a little bit better, but you shouldn't have to do that Um, so that's just one of the things I always harp on There's a pretty dark lit prolonged sex scene that um, I think was important There's something important that happens tied to that so i'm not going to say that it's an unnecessary sex scene Which there are plenty of films that have unnecessary sex scenes. This one does not so kudos on that But it's too prolonged. It's too long. It definitely needed to be shaved down um, it had the impact with Sometimes shaved down still so yeah, I was thinking you need to be shaved down a bit Mary Shelley as a character is imbued with a strongly independent spirit Which makes an interesting and complicated character for the film. So she is interesting I mean, she is the focal point obviously of the film So the characteristics that the writer director gave her are interesting It creates a interesting person that you are interested in watching now That said I do feel like the film drags from time to time Actually a little more than from time to time It drags the film drags and it's an hour and a half Which is not good if you have an hour and a half film and it's feeling like it's dragging Not good and I think part of the reason maybe for me personally with that is that It's very heavy on the drama And not a whole lot of the actual horror Although those things do tie together For the overall experience of the film So just know that going into it Um The finale raises a question of how Frankenstein's monster ties into Mary Shelley's life Kind of where did the inspiration come from and you can pull some You know hypotheses out of what you see in the film for how that ties in You know because when people are writing even works of fiction It's coming from somewhere. It's coming from life experiences. It's coming from inspirations You know, you know, look at any writer like and talk to them about where things came from Usually it's not just coming out of the blue. There's some sort of tie into their actual life And that's a play here. So I think that's interesting Uh, they're going to be plenty of people who will not watch this or will bail on it early Because of it being a period piece and because of it being slow. I have to repeat that If this sounds like it's up your alley, it's up your alley. If not, it's not and that's okay In the end this is a look back on a known piece of history But given context from the modern day, it's a look at the horror Mary Shelley was creating versus the horror created by society and potentially Well, not potentially and her partner Percy Shelley at the time Although I'm saying that in the context of the story written here not in the context of actual history I don't know actual history wise what that situation was. So Uh, I assumed that well, I mean maybe the writer director does because I assumed there was prior research that went into this This serves as a good reminder of where we are. Excuse me. Oh my gosh. I'm gonna restart on that This serves as a good reminder of where we are as a society and how far we've come by giving a modern spirit To an influential figure of the past and having them clash with their surroundings Um, that is interesting kind of like I was saying, you know It's it's taking a known story, but it's giving it kind of a filter through modern day and modern Social norms looking back at those older social norms And you know, it becomes confining in a way especially for a character that's very interesting interestingly independent So I will say that now that said My personal feeling on this film. I'm glad I watched it once It was interesting the filmmaking overall is nice from a technical standpoint Except what I was talking about with kind of like the shaky camera work from time to time and the lighting issues And the fact that when it was edited together some of the stuff could have been shaved down In order to not make it feel like it drags as much as it does Uh, but other than that, you know good directing, uh, like I was saying the music is really good The acting is really good. Uh, the writing is solid. There's a lot of there are a lot of You know themes at play here and tie-ins to the actual Mary Shelley story. So I think it's a I think it's ballsy to attempt something like this and the fact that it was pulled off relatively well is good It's good. So, um It's hard to rate something like this because it's not my wheelhouse typically And like I said, like it dragged for me. There are things that that bothered me But overall I would say when I kind of step back from it a little bit with uh out of five stars with half stars in play I'm going to give it a very solid three star rating. Uh, it is at first I was feeling like, eh, I'm very much in the middle, maybe two and a half And I was like, no, like the technical aspects and and the script is pretty strong Acting's very strong. So that kind of bumped me up that extra half. So three stars on this one Now I would be interested to find out what everyone else thinks about this film If and when you watch it and in which case you can put comments down here spoilers Go ahead go ahead spoilers in the comments. 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