Shirley ending explained: How do Shirley and Rose shape their lives in the movie?

Shirley movie was released in the year 2020. The movie stars Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Odessa Young and Logan Lerman. It is directed by Josephine Decker and Martin Scorcese is the executive producer of the movie. The movie traces an incident in the life of Shirley Jackson, a real-life horror fiction writer, which makes her finish her novel Hangsaman. 

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Shirley movie explained

The movie Shirley shows how two women turn to each other for guidance and love, but slowly turn like each other. At the beginning of the movie, one sees a young couple Rose and Fred who come to stay with Shirley and her husband Stanley. What was supposed to be a short term stay shifts into a long term one as Stanley asks Rose to take care of Shirley. 

Shirley was already a famous author and her works included horror stories. She had bouts of emotions and thoughts because of which she shuts herself out. She starts writing a novel named Hangsaman, which is based on a woman named Paula Jean Welden.

Rose and Shirley get close to each other throughout the movie. Rose starts learning Shirley's sharp and dominant style of living. Shirley, however, looks for comfort, solace and love, things that she had been denied for a long time. As the movie progresses, their personalities switch. While Shirley gets more in control of herself, Rose gets wilder and gains a prude personality.

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A year passes and Rose and Fred have a baby girl. Stanley slowly realises that Rose is getting more attention from his wife than himself, which makes him jealous. Stanley suggests that they need to leave and find a home for themselves. Enraged by this, Rose forges Paula’s name in one of the books that were used in Stanley’s syllabus, attempting to frame him as the person Paula might be sleeping with. Shirley knew about her husband philandering and thus she asks Rose whether she knows who Fred is sleeping with.

Rose confronts Fred on campus about this, who admits his betrayal. He asks her to not make a scene and she goes into the woods. Shirley catches up and takes Rose and the baby to the trailhead where Paula disappeared. The two stand at the edge of the precipice and Rose states a wish to jump.

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Shirley ending explained

Here starts the ending of the movie, or rather the endings of the movie. The movie has been given two possible endings. Along with the cliff scene, there is another where Rose and Fred are getting into the car and leaving Shirley’s house. In the cliffside ending, the last scene is of Shirley holding the baby all alone. In the car ending, Rose looks determined and ready to make herself stronger and more independent. The movie ends with Stanley praising Shirley’s novel and calling her a genius.

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