Louise (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) recently had an operation and needs help around the small farm. Her husband (Peter Christoffersen) hires a house keeper/farm hand Elena (Cosmina Stratan). They have no electricity and Elena adapts to the rustic lifestyle. As the women bond, Louise confides she wants a child, but can't carry one. She has some frozen embryos. Elena accepts the offer and carries the child which after awhile, things change.The DVD cover gives us the baby carriage/ "Rosemary's Baby" theme, but that is never developed in the film. There was some earth/pagan/ natural beliefs, but nothing that manifested itself as horror or supernatural, just people behaving badly. I was bored with the film and conversations and unseen action scenes. They show Cosmina nude while very pregnant. I don't know if this was special effects or the Demi Moore syndrome. I didn't feel I got closure, which appears to be the intent.Guide: F-word. Nudity (Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Cosmina Stratan)

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.

Louise (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) and Kasper (Peter Christoffersen) want to become parents but Louise is unable to have children. She seals a pact with her Romanian maid, Elena (Cosmina Stratan), to bear Louise's child, but things don't turn out as they planned.What sort of feeling or anticipation do we get when we approach "Shelley"? At first, the name evokes thoughts of Frankenstein's monster, but we quickly see this might not be the best parallel. The plot is much closer to a modern retelling of "Rosemary's Baby". Not that we needed one, but the concept of "natal horror" can always make room for one more.The dynamics of this film are noticeably different from "Rosemary". In that film, the threat was always external. Mia Farrow was terrified of her neighbors, her doctor, and sometimes even her husband as she continually felt boxed in. With "Shelley", it's almost as though things have been reversed. The threat now comes from within (the child itself) and we see events not just from the mother's perspective, but also from the outsiders (the "other" parents).The idea is good, and they must be applauded for casting an actual Romanian in the role of a Romanian maid. This is sort of counter-acted by having Danish people speaking English, however. I presume this was done to boost the chances of international screenings and sales, but it seems inauthentic. This is probably a nitpick, but in this regard I have to be a purist.The bigger question remains: Why does the couple live in the woods without electricity? The answer, of course, is this offers a great setting for a horror film. But it is not adequately explained by the characters. You might think an employee would ask why there's no power, but it never seems to occur to anyone. Are they Luddites? Is this a religious thing? Maybe a little mystery is good, but it seems silly to avoid the issue altogether.Early reviews seem to be very divergent and often mixed. Rotten Tomatoes has the film at an impressive 100%, while IMDb gives the movie only 5.7/10, which is nothing to be proud of. It's too early to rely on either metric, so let's look at more concrete examples. Noel Murray walks that middle line, saying the film "becomes frustratingly vague in the middle" but ends up giving it a passing grade anyway. Neil Genzlinger feels similar, saying the film takes "a minimalist approach that is both intriguing and somewhat unsatisfying… Maybe expecting a horror film to have a point is expecting too much." He clearly wants to like the film but cannot fully commit to it. Alissa Simon is even less impressed, agreeing that the film is "unsatisfying", and also volunteering "underdeveloped" and "ludicrous".For my money, the film is a decent horror film in its own right and will probably be popular when it hits Netflix or wherever it ends up. But it is neither one of the best on the festival circuit nor one of the best horror films of 2016. In the glut of movies coming out year after year, this is still better than average, but the average seems to be on a decline… so it doesn't take too much to get a C when we're grading on a curve."Shelley" debuted in February 2016 in Berlin, and has been making the festival rounds. Most recently it screened at the Fantasia International Film Festival in July. No rest for the wicked, however. Director Ali Abbasi is said to be already at work on "The Holy Spider," a film about Saeed Hanaei, an infamous Iranian serial killer. (Other sources have him directing "Border", which may be the same film under a different title.)

Fantasia 2016: 'SHELLEY': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)Another entry in this year's 'Fantasia International Film Festival', is this psychological thriller flick; about a Danish couple, that live together in an isolated villa (in the forest), that really wants to have a child (but can't). The wife makes a pact with their Romanian maid, for the maid to be the child's surrogate mother; but something sinister begins affecting the pregnancy, and everyone around it. The film was directed by first time feature filmmaker Ali Abbasi, and it was written by Abbasi and Maren Louise Kaehne. The movie stars Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Cosmina Stratan and Peter Christoffersen. It's a well made, and haunting movie.Louise (Petersen) and Kasper (Christoffersen) live in a remote villa, in the middle of the woods, away from technology and all modern ways of life. They hire a Romanian maid, named Elena (Stratan); and Louise and Elena quickly become close. Louise explains, to Elena, that she really wants to have a child, but can't. She then offers to give the maid a lot of money, to carry a child for her. Elena reluctantly agrees to the arrangement, but it soon becomes evident that the pregnancy is not normal; and something very dark (and unnatural) has possessed the baby growing inside of her.The movie is really nicely directed; the mood and atmosphere, that the director creates, are perfectly creepy and disturbing. The performances are all excellent, as well, especially the two female leads; and the characters are all likable and relatable. The film is effectively scary; without a true villain, or clichéd 'jump scares' and gimmicks! With all of that said, I was still hoping for more from the movie's ending. It's definitely a psychological thriller, that leaves a lot up to viewer interpretation.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/bE358EcZTbU