Sundance 2020: SHIRLEY & UNCLE FRANK

In my second report from Sundance Film Festival, I talk about two more films I was able to see (also watched back to back). Shirley and Uncle Frank were both movies that stirred something inside me, making them difficult to relinquish, even if there was some stumbling along the way.

Shirley (Josephine Decker)

I was especially excited to catch Shirley at Sundance this year after Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline, and when I left the theater, I was a bit perplexed. This kind of response, whether or not it was pointed positive or negative, was still engaging, and is important to consider. Shirley really made me ponderous, instinctively curious about how I was reacting to the movie. If a work of art has the capability to do that, it’s truly, doing its job. Regardless, Shirley is a dizzying contemplation on human interaction and isolation. It was one I had to sit on to unpack, but I’m happy to do so.

It’s also fitting that the film left me somewhat unsure, emotionally disrupted as you will – because the film is a demanding one, in every facet. This isn’t a biopic, though adapted by Sarah Gubbins from Susan Scarf Merrell’s novel, it’s loosely based on the real gothic writer Shirley Jackson. What it’s really about? Female awakening, the bonds between women, and the maddening life of a tortured artist.

Young couple Fred Nemser (Logan Lerman) and his wife Rose (Odessa Young) move in with the renowned writer Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss) and her husband, professor Stanley Hyman (Michael Stuhlbarg) when Fred begins working for him. Both relationships have their own temperaments, but Moss and Stuhlbarg especially take the cake on strange but fascinating marriages.

It may not be easy to live with Shirley, as the intrigued Rose soon finds out, but it’s never uninteresting. Her creative ways have her struggling throughout the day to eat or leave the house, and once she finds her artistic sensibilities, she’s consumed by them. For her newest book, she’s hit a wall, that is, until she becomes reinvigorated by Rose, creating a character born out of her own fantasies, mixed with that of a repressed girl and unfair expectations. It all compounds into a mixture of sequences, some that truly sparkle with evocative invitation, and others that feel coarse and cynical.

Shirley sometimes becomes too presumptuous with its audience, uncertain of how to make some transitions, yet I still found the film to be passionate in its intent. Decker has scenes that speak volumes without words, born of a combination of framing, light, and just an expression from Moss; Simple, and yet deliriously layered. This is also where the film begins to steer towards uncertainty, which makes for interesting fair, but it can make some of the scenes and their reliability, unclear. You didn’t think her next film would keep both feet directly on the ground, did you?

Both of the females in the forefront are mesmerizing, with Decker delivering on the exploration of companionship and breaking free of the molds that men, especially in the period represented here, create. I can see Odessa Young continuing to rise and do different and diverting roles – I look forward to what’s next for the talented young star. Michael Stuhlbarg, diving into a dark and devious place, is perfect, especially in scenes with Moss.

Spirited, and at times intoxicating, Shirley is certainly striking with Moss pushing herself to give a knockout, magnetic portrayal.

Uncle Frank (Alan Ball)

While I’ve also had to consider my opinion on Uncle Frank, I stay firm in my initial take away: essentially moved. Alan Ball has always been a writer I admired, with his ability to mold comedy and drama in a way that’s relevant and unique enough to be thought-provoking. Isn’t that what we want?

With Uncle Frank, he digs down to write and direct, touching on autobiographical aspects of his life, to produce a poignant and hilarious feature. The movie is comfortable in both exploring the necessary comical elements of life and also achieving complete emotional resonance when needed. It meanders through this precipice well, and while it may feel (at times) too pushy in playing on our heartstrings, it still is a picture flooded with incredible performances.

It’s the 70’s: Uncle Frank (Paul Bettany) is divided from his family, especially his father (Stephen Root), living in NYC as a professor and recovering alcoholic, his homosexuality is something he has kept from them. Until his young niece Beth (Sophia Lillis) finds out about his real life and partner Wally (Peter Macdissi). Beth has always looked up to her uncle, and his support of her doing whatever she truly wants, allows her to feel comfortable in her skin too. Their bond is the connecting tissue of the film, and both stars are up to the task.

When his father passes away, the three head to their home in the South. The road trip, and the family scenes after, give some better explanation of the pain Frank’s been keeping to himself, and gives us an eventual feel-good message that’s nearly impossible not to endure. Even if it partly feels constructed for our emotional response and the script becomes convoluted at times, it still gets one, because the performances warrant it so.

It’s overly sentimental, but I think it is warranted to be so. I’m not saying there aren’t characters here that are too boxed in by stereotypes (like one by Steve Zahn), but most feel genuine, even when things feel too structured. To say that Bettany steals the show would be an understatement. His performance is impassioned, nuanced, and ultimately reminds me why he stood out long before anyone in the Marvel fanbase knew who he was.

There’s nothing about this story that isn’t infuriating, but that’s only because elements hit home for a lot of us. It may be somewhat predictable in ways, but it is still key to note the implementation. It’s the easy way in which we can laugh alongside these three that makes Uncle Frank a movie I’d recommend. Is it perfect? Not nearly, but come for Alan Ball’s dialogue, stay for Paul Bettany‘s delivery. Bring tissues.

Check out my red carpet interviews with Paul Bettany, Stephen Root, and Sophia Lillis.

Were you able to see either of these? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!

Both Shirley and Uncle Frank had their premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2020.