Shelley | Rotten Tomatoes

Shelley

Released Jul 29, 2016

1 hr. 32 min.

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

TRAILER

for Shelley: Trailer 1

List

92%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

39%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

A childless couple make a bargain with their Romanian maid to serve as a surrogate. When the child inside her begins growing too quickly, it becomes clear that a sinister force is overtaking all of them.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Jul 27

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent Shelley on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Audience Member

Among all of the "Rosemary's Baby" copy movies, this one isn't actually that bad. It does end on a cliffhanger but it works in my opinion. However you may feel unsatisfied with this movie and have more questions if you don't know about some of the symbolism of the Antichrist. Without that knowledge, the appearance of a dark dog, the protector of the antichrist would make no sense to the person watching. Oh and it isn't scary, so there's that.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Half a star for the atmospheric location and the luminous glow that suffuses the first half of the movie. As for the rest...couldn't tell ya, because this is yet another one of those films that leaves you in the dark. Literally. In. The. Dark. The second half of the movie might as well have been phoned in...again, literally. And I mean on your gram's land-line, rotary-dial telephone, because there's nothing to look at but some vague shapes that occasionally surface thru the murk and immediately sink back into unintelligibility, leaving the audience with nothing to do but make up their own story to go with the soundtrack, which provides enough hints that something awful is happening to set you on the right track. I guess some people like that sort of cinematic tomfoolery, because it seems to be the stock in trade of the type of horror films that go for the 'artsy' cachet, but I say it's a cheat and a cop out to expect your audience to finish your story for you when you've run out of steam and left them to figure out their own resolution. Isn't that what YOU went to film school for? Oh, well, I suppose I should be happy that at least this one didn't end up being an hour and a half of shaky-cam 'found footage'...except that after five minutes of that, I would have reclaimed my evening and found something else to watch.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Like Rosemary's Baby if made by David Cronenberg, this is an unsettling film that unfolds at a deliberate pace, making us seriously cringe as it forces us to contemplate the creepy idea of a pregnant woman getting slowly wrecked by a living creature growing inside her.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Very dark and well done. Awesome performances by all involved. I think although Rosemaryï¿ 1/2(TM)s Baby is a classic, this movie gave me much more of a genuine unsettling feeling.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not scary. Leaves the story hanging.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is one of the best Horror movies I have seen in a long time. It is utterly frightening and the performances of the actors are very convincing. Great Danish Cinema!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Ali Abbasi

Director

Cosmina Stratan

Elena

Ellen Dorrit Petersen

Louise

Peter Christoffersen

Kasper

Kenneth M. Christensen

Simon

Patricia Schumann

Nanna

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

65%

40%

SiREN

TRAILER

for SiREN

67%

36%

Still/Born

TRAILER

for Still/Born

70%

68%

Annabelle: Creation

TRAILER

for Annabelle: Creation

38%

34%

Voice From the Stone

TRAILER

for Voice From the Stone

38%

31%

Blair Witch

TRAILER

for Blair Witch

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Shelley: Trailer 1

1:43

View more videos

View more photos

Noel Murray

Los Angeles Times

It's no "Rosemary's Baby" - or even "It's Alive" - but the Danish supernatural thriller "Shelley" is a fair addition to the "natal horror" genre.

Jul 28, 2016

Full Review

Neil Genzlinger

New York Times

Maybe expecting a horror film to have a point is expecting too much. In any case, the two actresses give committed performances on the way to a veiled ending.

Jul 28, 2016

Full Review

Jessica Kiang

The Playlist

A classy take on the often trashy pregnancy horror category, with a subtle social critique underlying its neo-gothic texture.

Rated: B+

Jul 26, 2016

Full Review

Andreea Patru

Vague Visages

In the end, the director chose to focus on the hidden face of motherhood — both natural and substituted — and amplified its fears into this spine-chilling story.

Dec 6, 2023

Full Review

Emma Wolfe

SpookyAstronauts

It's one of those films that are just made up of moments instead of scenes and I really, really enjoyed that.

Rated: 5/10

Apr 29, 2021

Full Review

Emilie Black

Cinema Crazed

The less is more approach usually works for this reviewer, however here it was much too little and lead to an expected ending with very little pay off.

Rated: 2.5/5

Apr 19, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

A childless couple make a bargain with their Romanian maid to serve as a surrogate. When the child inside her begins growing too quickly, it becomes clear that a sinister force is overtaking all of them.

Director: Ali Abbasi
Executive Producer: David Atlan-Jackson, Ditte Milsted, Þór Sigurjónsson
Screenwriter: Ali Abbasi, Maren Louise Käehne
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Profile Pictures
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Danish
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 29, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 13, 2016

Most Popular at Home Now