Beautiful, moving film.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Yes, it could have been mistaken for one, as most biographies are, but I can assure you that it is not. The feel this movie gave off was quite old without it seeming like a typical period drama. Absolutely loved it, such a stunning film and the first I have seen about Mary Shelley's life.I passed a cinema in Cambridge where this film was being shown and little did I know that it had only come out in select theatres. Finding it on the internet was a pain, so, if you see it anywhere, go watch it immediately, it's not as accessible as one might want it to be.

Mary Shelley: This film is a tad confused as it tries to fit so much into a 2 hour running time. There is the romance between Percy Shelley (Douglas Booth) and Mary Wollstonecraft (Elle Fanning); her freethinking father William Godwin (Stephen Dillane); her deceased mother Mary Wollstonecraft the author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; the affair between Mary's stepsister Claire Clairmont (Bel Powley) and Lord Byron (Tom Sturridge); then there is the tale of the Swiss villa where the Frankenstein story was conceived. Mary even has a nasty stepmother (Joanne Froggatt).Booth and Fanning both look exceedingly pretty and it's certainly lust if not love at first sight but somehow there are no real sparks in the relationship. Shelley is a cad who has deserted his wife and child and now hopes to have free love with Mary and more on the side. The real fire rages between Powley and Sturridge even if his Byron portrayal is somewhat reminiscent of Jason Isaacs plying Zhukov. The Swiss scenes where Frankenstein was thought up are surprisingly low key with Polidori (Ben Hardy) providing the main interest.This might have worked better as a six hour TV mini-series. 6/10.

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin is a teenage dreamer determined to make her mark on the world when she meets the dashing and brilliant poet Percy Shelley. So begins a torrid, bohemian love affair marked by both passion and personal tragedy that will transform Mary and fuel the writing of her Gothic masterwork. Imbued with the imaginative spirit of its heroine, Mary Shelley brings to life the world of a trailblazing woman who defied convention and channeled her innermost demons into a legend for the ages. Despite an amazing cast and Elle Fanning trying her best 'Mary Shelley' tells a story that is neither good or even remotely interesting at all. (0/10)

I love Frankenstein, one of my first novels I read when I was 12. One of the most interesting details about this is her author, a 18 years old lady named Mary. This films focus on her, and uses her story as an excuse to recreate the problematic situations of women two centuries ago. This is a real love story. I am not sure about how accurate it is but the essence and the message is totally necessary. May be the rithm is a Little slow and repetitive but it has an exquisite music, very good direction, good actors and very emotional and human message. Give this honest film a try.