The defence The Auteur Devotee
“Form is the argument.”
Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.
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Shirley
Drama · Thriller · Mystery · 2020
A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.
Movie details
Shirley
2020 Drama · Thriller · Mystery 1h 47m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.1 / 10
Community rating
A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Shirley?
For the defence
The Auteur Devotee
“You watch the director, not the movie.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Endless Night
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Angel of Mine
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A woman grieving over the death of her daughter loses grip of reality when she begins to think her girl may still be alive.
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The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague.
The Good Doctor
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Dr. Martin Blake, who has spent his life looking for respect, meets an 18-year-old patient named Diane, suffering from a kidney infection, and gets a much-needed boost of self-esteem. However, when her health starts improving, Martin fears losing her, so he begins tampering with her treatment, keeping Diane sick and in the hospital right next to him.
Luckiest Girl Alive
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A successful woman in New York City finds her life upended when she is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.
Dream Lover
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Not long after they cross paths at an art gallery, architect Ray Reardon and hypnotically sensual Lena are married with children. But as strange incidents occur, Ray begins to realize he may not really know the woman he married.
Deep Water
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A well-to-do husband who allows his wife to have affairs in order to avoid a divorce becomes a prime suspect in the disappearance of her lovers.
Neverwas
Drama · 2005
Zach Riley is a psychiatrist, who leaves a job at a prestigious university, to take up a job at the privately run mental institution, Millwood. What he doesn't reveal at the time of his appointment is that this was the very place where his novelist father, T.L. Pierson, spent many years of his life.
Black Bear
Drama · 2020
At a remote lake house in the Adirondack Mountains, a couple entertains an out-of-town guest looking for inspiration in her filmmaking. The group quickly falls into a calculated game of desire, manipulation, and jealousy, unaware of how dangerously intertwined their lives will soon become.
Heatwave
Thriller · 2022
A woman's life takes an unexpected turn when she falls for her boss's wife. She must soon defend herself as she becomes entangled in a web of malice.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Josephine Decker
Written by
Sarah Gubbins
Elisabeth Moss
Shirley Jackson
Odessa Young
Rose Nemser / Paula
Michael Stuhlbarg
Stanley Hyman
Logan Lerman
Fred Nemser
Victoria Pedretti
Katherine
Robert Wuhl
Randy Fisher
Paul O'Brien
Dean
Court is in session
Put Shirley on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Technique in search of a pulse.”
Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.