Look - I cannot imagine what it takes for a group of dedicated professionals to film a horror movie like Shelley. The countless time spent to get the shots right. The lights. Makeup. Actors. For all of the effort taken to make a movie look gorgeous and haunting - one might consider a script that takes less risks to alienate the audience with artistic decisions and instead uses a story with more clarity and a stronger reversal of expectation.This movie is really well made - the story begins with a Romanian girl who goes to live with her boss and his wife in the woods - but they have no electricity. This seems strange - and soon it gets even more strange when our young heroine agrees to be a surrogate mother for the couple. She becomes pregnant and soon there are signs of darkness - eerie dreams and a visit from a black hound. Then her body begins to decay as the life inside of her grows. This gets worse and more painful to experience for her and for the audience as well. Then - the film gets very strange and pretty scary but I honestly admit I had a hard time following the story. I believe the Romanian girl dies giving birth? Or - she goes missing? Or - she stays in the house but is out of sight? The couple begin to raise the child but soon they too have dark experiences and seem to be going down the same path as the surrogate mother. There is a final moment that sheds some profound insight into intimacy and childbirth that is pretty chilling - but it is also very confusing and full of symbolism that may have passed me by.Our conclusion is a final shot - and I am not sure what I saw - but I think the young Romanian girl who served as the surrogate mother looms in the background and observes the current mom as she holds the baby - and the baby seems to enjoy the fact it's birth is death itself. I think it's an evil demon - or Satan - or something - but honestly I dunno. I have watched a lot of horror movies and I have seen this type of end before - ambiguous and puzzling, perhaps to a fault. Yet I admit that as a man I might need to understand the pain of giving birth and the psychological horror of what could go wrong that all pregnant woman - may experience. This movie is 100% worth it if you love horror and want to watch a well made film. It is intelligent and controversial and artistic - and some of the creative choices are confusing. I look forward to another film by this filmmaker.

A barren wife engages a maid in her remote home, before propositioning the girl with money to become a surrogate mother. The plan works ... until the baby kicks in.Direction and editing are very good, setting the scene at a fair pace in a claustrophobic world with only three characters. Particularly good early on is the relationship between the women, which gives a genuine feel of them getting to know each other and enjoying their company. Lovely acting, and I got a good chuckle when the maid stuck her tongue out.The sense of unease is created with subtle music, and the photography makes use of well lit landscapes and close ups. But why are we uneasy? I kept guessing where the threat was coming from, but sadly it comes from nowhere, so I began losing patience about halfway through. There were a couple of interesting efforts to deliver the evil eye from the baby, but it's another case for Inspector Babadook - horror methods used to give a frisson to personal difficulties that might be psychological, might be spiritual.Problems with the story. The maid's background is interesting - educated but poor immigrant ground up by the West's wealth machine, but that doesn't inform her character, even though she's the plaything of unaccountably wealthy hippies. No attention paid to the fact she was effectively lured in with lies - when the proposition was made I was thinking, Uh oh. Apparently I was wrong. So where did we come from, and where did we end up? I dunno. Even the shaman departed in a state of confusion. This is a Danish production, but mostly in English in the first part, so no need for subtitles until about 40 mins. And the first time I've seen fisting in a drama - shouldn't he have had it torn off at the wrist?Overall, unfathomable because it lacks depth.

Like watching a Tarantula molt, this film is incredibly fascinating, disturbing and effective. But, man, is it slow! Everything happens at a snails pace, and regardless of how thought provoking the events are, it does not excuse the pace of this supposed "horror" film. I am all for a slow-burn, in fact, I prefer them to teenage jump scares and other sophomoric tactics. But this movie literally made me want to watch it at 2X the speed, just so that people would pick up the f-ing pace. You know how there are movies that would have been effective if the creative teams knew how to just get to the good parts and edit themselves accordingly? This is one of those films. Had they been more overt with the horror elements, and made things flow just a bit faster, this would have been a worthy addition to the "baby horror" sub-genre. As it stands, it plods along, thinking it is being suspenseful, but in reality, it's just not getting there fast enough. Not recommended, as I am unsure that even the most ardent "slow-burn" fan will appreciate the pace of this film. That being said, the acting is superb, and the cinematography is top-notch.

Oh God where can I start, awful European horror just like the many others they keep churning out. Reading the other reviews I honestly expected something decent however I was completely disappointed, just over one hour and a half of my life I will NEVER get back.The only thing I can say about this film is that it was creepy. Everything else was boooooooooooring, too many things left unexplained, when the credits pop up you cannot help it but feel completely unsatisfied.Left to watcher's interpretation my backside, all I can say is that the damn eggs were past the expiration date, bad eggs or everyone in the movie drank the wrong coolie.Please avoid.