Shelley (2016)

Louise and Kasper want to become parents but Louise is unable to have children. She seals a pact with her Romanian maid, Elena, to bear Louise's child, but things don't turn out as they planned.

Director:

Ali Abbasi

Writers:

Maren Louise Käehne, Ali Abbasi

Stars:

Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Cosmina Stratan, Björn Andrésen

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ellen Dorrit Petersen	...	Louise
Cosmina Stratan	...	Elena
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Björn Andrésen	...	Leo
Marlon Kindberg Bach	...	Sigurd
Kenneth M. Christensen	...	Simon
Peter Christoffersen	...	Kasper
Marianne Mortensen	...	Isabella
Patricia Schumann	...	Nanna

Storyline

Louise and Kasper, a Danish couple, live in an isolated villa in the middle of the forest away from modern life, technology and even electricity. Louise's biggest dream is to become a mother but she is unable to have children. She finally decides, out of desperation, to seal a pact with her Romanian maid, Elena. Elena accepts to bear Louise's child as a surrogate mother in exchange for a large amount of money. The life growing inside of her is taking shape too fast, affecting the lives of everyone like an evil force. Paranoia and horror set in around the inevitable birth...

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Plot Keywords:

surrogate mother | wife kills husband | living in forest | wood chopping | knitting needle | 

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Taglines:

Inside, an evil grows.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Denmark Sweden

Language:

Danish English Norwegian Swedish Romanian

Release Date:

29 July 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Шели

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Company Credits

Production Co:

Profile Pictures,Backup Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ali Abbasi's directorial film debut.

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Quotes

Louise:

• Well, there's more to this world than what you see. Why are you so skeptical?

Elena:

• I'm not skeptical.

Louise:

• Yes, you are.

Elena:

• I just don't believe it.

Louise:

• Go and watch some TV and make your brain melt!

User Reviews

good suspense

The plot of the movie is simple but it develops fairly astonishingly. The dark atmosphere starts to appear from the beginning of the movie and turns into a not releasing stress in the middle. The suspend builds up all the way close to the ending which is the strength of this movie.

The movie has three distinguishing features:

The English language has made it possible to be understandable by many audiences and the writer has used the excuse of a foreign maid in the house for English language.

I was sick of the ghosts of many recent horror movies which had their mouths open too wide and loud. This movie was a cool breeze away from the failed horrors. The director has done an amazing job to keep up the suspense with almost no special computer effect or crawling long hair lady.

The performances of the actors were really satisfying. Except for the two women, the others were not talking that much which was good. The two women (Elena and Louis) were pretty good and amazing at some scenes.

All by all, a great movie which I re-watch Although I would like it more if it was longer and it had more development at the ending.