A new Danish horror film by debutant Danish writer-director Ali Abbasi has made an encouraging stateside start following its limited theatre release on July 29.
Hailed as “’Rosemary’s Baby’ by way of David Lynch” by Indiewire, the atmospheric ‘Shelley’ enjoyed its worldwide premiere on February 14 at the Berlin International Film Festival where it was nominated for the ‘Best First Feature Award’.
Solid showing
And it has also fared well with the US critics, scoring 62 on Metacritic.
According to the ratings site, the synopsis involves a couple of “privileged, nouveau-eco-hippies” living off the grid who enlist their Romanian maid to be their surrogate.
According to Village Voice, it is an assured directorial debut.
“Director Ali Abbasi excels at atmosphere, understanding that any beautiful landscape can be made terrifying with the right sound design and that a cut to a silent interior can be as jarring as any jump scare,” it noted.
However, it was less impressed by his screenwriting.
“His script, unfortunately, is not as interesting.”
The film is scheduled to hit Danish cinemas on December 1.
Check out the trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHJkRG6jOrU
