‘Mary Shelley’: Just Ignore Rotten Tomatoes This One Time, OK?

As I write, I left the cinema 90 minutes ago, have since visited three bookshops, and now find myself the proud owner of a second-hand copy of Frankenstein, an anthology of Percy Shelley’s poetry and a joint biography of Mary Shelley and her mother Mary Wollstonecraft. For Mary Shelley, I vow to rebel ardently against bleak Rotten Tomatoes ratings in future. That particular shoal of white men got this film very wrong.

That these same white men, for whom Paul Thomas Anderson and his brutality can’t put a foot wrong, were oblivious to the impact of this film — directed by the first Saudi female director and written by women — elucidates the feedback loop that keeps Hollywood male-dominated and largely insensitive to women’s struggles. This can have serious consequences on young girls and women, whose on-screen representatives are often impossibly beautiful, male-dependent rag dolls. Not so with Mary Shelley. Granted, I know very little about the writer’s history, and it is possible that this biopic doesn’t do her life justice, as some critics have suggested. However, Al-Mansour’s work sends strong and necessary messages, and is absolutely exhilarating. Who the fuck called it boring? Me and the edge of my seat just want a quick chat, Barbara.

Of course, reviewing this film knowing very little about Mary Shelley puts me in a much easier position to critique it somewhat independently of its subject matter, but I just think it holds together brilliantly. Elle Fanning is MAGNIFICENT as the movie’s eponym, spirited and steadfast and honest, burning with desire for acceptance but never willing to sacrifice her soul to get it. Percy Shelley (Douglas Booth) is touching in his frailty and in his kind intentions, wherein he contrasts Lord Byron’s (Tom Sturridge) piercing cruelty.

Mary Shelley follows its namesake from her teenagehood until she meets and runs away with her husband-to-be, poet Percy Shelley, up until she receives public recognition for Frankenstein. Giving screen time to female historical figures is crucial in and of itself, but this film makes Mary (née Wollstonecraft Godwin) out to be especially fascinating. To have the courage to defy the precepts of respectable society, not because she doesn’t know any better but precisely because she does, is perfectly exceptional and delectably scandalous. Mary understands the consequences of her decisions and has expectations of nobody but herself. She is not a child who was too easily swayed, but a woman who has learned the tools to survive from her extensive readership and, particularly, from her mother’s writings. The abuse she suffers at the hands of the patriarchy and her biting retorts give the film its extraordinary power.

Mary Shelley certainly packs on the melodrama, but this doesn’t take away from its strength — firstly, this potential shortcoming is balanced out by all the film’s qualities, and secondly, escapism is a good thing. Extreme realism in cinema often proves tedious (*cough* Boyhood and its 97% rating *cough cough*), while entertainment constitutes not only an end in itself, but also a means through which crucial messages can be successfully communicated. And Mary Shelley is just that: an entertaining historical drama with some salient points to make.

Lastly, the passion between Mary and Percy is thrilling, a highly satisfying romance among other love stories — between sisters, friends, parents, children. Perhaps this sensitivity displeased the critique establishment, but I’ll defend Mary Shelley to the death. What a great use of two hours.

9/10