The Yellow Wallpaper (2021) Poster

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4/10
Horrible Acting!!!
jasminethorson14 September 2022
I wanted to watch this movie since the plot looked very interesting, but the acting was so awful!!! I do care about watching only movies with the popular A list actors/actresses, but I mean come on, this woman was not trying at all!! It's as if she was reading from a teleprompter!

I am disappointed about the horrible acting because I believe this movie could be great.

The film is generally shot well with nice scenery, and beautiful photography, and a sad atmosphere which goes along with the plot. It's about a woman named Jane who is miserable in her marriage. Jane also seems to be going through postpartum depression. But the film makes you also wonder, if it is just the summer home that is causing her depression. Possibly both. She seems to already be miserable because on the ride to the summer home, her baby cries on the ride there and her husband asks her to do something about it. It seems her husband does not care about his wife's mental health at all, but instead just ignores it and only cares about himself. Jane says in the film that she feels she is being ungrateful. This is something I feel many people can relate to. Sometimes in life you become sad or depressed, even though you have everything going for you, which then makes you feel guilty because you have no real reason to be sad. This shows that it is a real sickness and a chemical imbalance that shouldn't just be ignored, sadly back then it probably was oftentimes ignored. It seemed Janes husband dictated her whole entire day as well. Jane wakes up in the morning and he wants to hear exactly what she will do during the day, now there is nothing wrong with that but it seems that he wants to tell her what she can and can't do, which he does. He tells the maid that he does not want her doing more than an hour of chores.

This film does go over very important topics, not only showing how women were very controlled back then, but how more research needs to be done on womens health in general. This woman clearly had severe postpartum depression and no one seemed to care. And this still holds true today, there is not enough research being done on womens health and women still are controlled in some ways. For example, abortion being banned in certain states.

I do not think this film deserves higher than a 4 because the acting was so awful and this honestly made it unbearable to watch. The film dragged on and could have been summed up in a half hour but I get that they wanted it to be a movie.
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5/10
Disappointing
Mehki_Girl27 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I read the short story and I've seen a couple of adaptations of The Yellow Wallpaper.

I was so delighted to see that this was playing on Prime video. It has beautiful cinematography and the opening scene is quite shocking and draws you in, but, unfortunately, the acting in this adaptation is stilted.

The lead actress sounds like she's reading her lines and so do the other actors and for the life of me I cannot determine whether or not it was a deliberate portrayal through the direction to emphasize the stilted stifling nature of their lives or none of these people know how to say their lives naturally. But I found it distracting to me and she just wasn't up to the task to convey the material and give it the mystery and gravitist I've seen in other excellent adaptations. Now I know why the rating is so low.
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3/10
so slow i wish i died at the end
tamaraearthangel21 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Boring, slow moving, and insufferable as Melancholia, if that's even possible. Feminist? I guess, in so much as 90% of horror movie tropes are where the man never believes the woman till it's too late. At least at the end of melancholia everybody died! I get it she was sad and nobody cared. Yeesh. I really needed 2 and half hours of a lady crawling around on the ground to tell me that? So there was no baby? What about the baby? Was the baby not real? I get the 2nd maid was all in her head but the baby too? Never explained. Screw you guys i'm going home.
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Not for everyone
The Yellow Wallpaper is undoubtedly one of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's best short stories. And it is not easy to capture on screen.

The story is deeply dark, as it deals with how women with mental problems were treated in the late 19th century. And told in the first person by someone who suffered it in her bones.

So I can only take my hat off to those who take on such an adventure. And if they also come out much more than successful, as is the case, I can only applaud.

K. Pontuti directs with good sense. The editing and cinematography are marvelous, but I want to stay with the performances. Jeanne O'Connor is superb in a role that is not easy to contain in the face of the protagonist's delusions. Clara Harte, in a role made for this film, is the perfect counterpoint for Alexandra Loreth. Joe Mullins does what he has to do with great talent. Alexandra Loreth! What to say about her performance, worthy of awards at festivals, an actress who reaches an extraordinary category.

In short, it is a pity that on April 1, 2022 this film has a 4'8 score, but it is not for everyone...
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2/10
Institutionalize her already
susanbirk28 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The acting was something you'd see in a community theater. The pace is much slower than it needs to be. And it's much too long to be effective. That's why this was a short story. There's just not enough story there for a movie this long. You know a film is bad when a third of the way through you want to see the protagonist carted off to an institution just so the movie will mercifully end already. And, BTW, what's with throwing the baby out of the carriage? It's obviously in her mind, right, but then the husband stops the carriage to go back and retrieve it. It makes you think it actually happened. The next scene the baby is fine. Just strange.
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1/10
I'd leave a 0 star rating if I could
tommyfeagle29 August 2022
Quite possibly the worst movie I've ever seen in my entire life.

I've never even left a movie review before. This movie was so bad that I was motivated to regain access to my account to leave this review.

There is barely a plot. Minimal dialogue. The actors themselves are fine I guess but I have no idea what this story even was.

It was truly an embarrassment to movies and storytelling in general.

The only redeeming quality in this entire thing was the sound. It led me to believe that something was going to happen at some point but the sound designer must have been Ashton Kutcher because I got punk'd.

You may be wondering why I am wasting my time to leave this review but I watched this movie so it appears that I am not someone who values time.
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2/10
Not good
scornedchaos27 September 2022
I taught The Yellow Wallpaper in Soc. 101, and this is not a good representation of the work. The biggest flaw is pacing. The original short story is only 24 pages long. Adapting that to a 100 minute film is not a good idea, and the result is a slow, plodding, boring waste of time.

This would have been better as part of an anthology or tv show than a feature length film.

The acting and production are not great either. I did not feel immersed into the era and the wooden performances, especially through the first two acts kept me from connecting to any of the characters. I did not like any of them, nor did I want to even know them.

Do yourself a favor and spend a couple bucks buying Gilman's work on Amazon and reading the story. It is much better written and more fulfilling.
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1/10
Boring👎
rrkvxjnrdb8 November 2022
This movie is insanely boring, nothing happens, the movie sucks. Nothing happens for the entire movie, the soundtrack sucks. There was one slight jump scare that didn't even fit in the place it was put. Very repetitive with extremely long and monotonous to watch scenes. It doesn't make sense and it doesn't match up very well to the story. Very inappropriate and you shouldn't attempt to make a movie out of a 10 page story. The actors should not act except for John. John was dope, he had some drip too. Honestly I'll take style tips from John. But everyone else should get a job at Kroger or something, acting isn't for them.
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2/10
No Music
twelve-house-books19 August 2022
There is hardly any music in this film. Everything seems like a cardboard cutout. Maybe that was the point, to try to get across the original horror of the story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, but I found it unwatchable. Two stars for scenery.
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7/10
Quite faithful to the original story
grangeheights27 March 2022
I really enjoyed this if it's possible to enjoy a truly bleak story.

I think that if you are familiar with the original short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman then it's quite faithful and you'll be pleased.

Otherwise, probably not. There are no special effects, no jump scares and it flows more like a play than a film.
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3/10
Long, non scary movie
ks-605006 April 2022
If it's a horror movie I would classify it as a documentary of sickness happened in old times. Seeing bunch of mice being killed maybe the most scary to me. Way too long and no peak of this product.
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8/10
Glad I Didn't Live In This Time
GilbertS-8531 March 2022
Not sure what I expected from a gothic feminist horror film. Is A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night or Suspiria (both versions) also feminist horror?

The Yellow Wallpaper intrigued me, and after I finished, I read the original text on which it's based. Both are great, but for different reasons. The film abides by the emotion and spirit of the novella but takes on modern interpretations. I can't say what because it might give parts away.

The foreboding house and creepiness of the situation got under my skin, and I couldn't help but watch the ending in horror. Or maybe it was the tense soundtrack. I wished some scenes were shorter, but I think that of every movie I've watched (including Dune) in the last year, chalking that up to Covid isolation. But, oh hell, I think I'll watch it again with my wife.
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7/10
Descent into madness!
robertatjones4 April 2022
I usually stay away from horror films, but this one depicted insanity in a remarkable way. Beautifully shot in an authentic setting Alexandra Loreth shines as a tragic figure in a downward spiral fixated on wallpaper. The opening scene is so shocking I won't describe it here, but it was well-played and gut-renching all at once. The movie is a little slow, but well-directed.
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2/10
Historical costumers - prepare to be disappointed
zeevicious-051548 April 2022
I am a little confused by the other reviews of this film.

I will first mention that the costumes are some of the worst of a period film I have experienced. The time period they convey is confused; sometimes depicting early 1890s, sometimes early 1900s - however, in all, they are disappointing. In the first segment we see Jane wearing an early 1890s gown which must have been adapted from a larger piece to fit the actress, and therefore the waist and the bust are bizarrely low - it doesn't help that the actress doesn't appear to wear a corset at all, meaning that the clothes don't fit her body correctly.

One of the servants has one costume, from the 1910s; the other's one costume is much earlier.

I really just hope that someone remakes this film, and chooses much more appropriate clothing.

The dialogue is unnatural, and the actors don't seem to understand their own characters enough to make the story believable.

To be honest, I found this very cringey to watch, I couldn't finish it.
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1/10
OMG don't do it
MrPither193925 August 2022
I have no idea what the movie was about. I couldn't get past Alexandra Loreth's complete inability to act. She would get kicked out of a volunteer group at a theater in the park. The other people seemed to fit into the setting but this woman was like you picked up a drunk at the bar and asked her to read some lines... literally read them. I had to give up on it. She should never be in front of a camera again.
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1/10
I Hate Yellow Now!!
dgosset-828-80708525 March 2022
Very long Docudrama about what real Hysteria was about in the days of witches and Demons today we call it Fear . Phobia , Panic Attacks Panic and of Course Depression to say a few .......but boring as Hell.
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3/10
If you have misophonia do NOT watch this movie!
drkne23 October 2022
Just that fair warning. That in all this long and boring madness they make overly liberal use of every annoying sound effect they can get their hands on and if you suffer from a greater degree of misophonia like I do, this movie probably won't be a good time for you. You just may end up joining the lead into her mental decline trying to sit this out. There are a lot of long, drawn out staring shots.

Not to mention the actresses' mumbly droning/croaky voice was indecipherable and I was forced to utilize subtitles if I wanted to understand what she was saying.

This story was MUCH better off in short literary form. Even if I did not suffer from severe miso, I'm pretty sure I would not have a much higher opinion of this movie.
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1/10
Unbearably Bad Acting
ecass-3829525 August 2023
The acting was so poor I couldn't get through more than 20 minutes of this film. The actors seem to struggle to maintain a consistent accent (let alone a correct or accurate one) for even short bits of dialogue. It feels like watching a recording of an amateur hobby theatre group putting on a play, except it's not. I love dark historical fiction, this film is right up my alley, so I was bummed that it was poorly executed. The short story is very good, so it's disappointing that this adaption is unwatchable. The bad acting was too distracting for me to get past and enjoy the story. It seems that's not the case for some other reviewers, so if bad acting doesn't really bother you then give it a try -- the story itself is good.
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5/10
A capable adaption of the short story, but maybe not the best
tarchon6 February 2023
I'm not sure how many times I've seen the Yellow Wallpaper adapted now. It's at least the third one, and wikipedia lists like 5 reasonably direct film adaptations. The story is justly regarded as a horror/feminist/short fiction classic, and I suppose because the author was a woman, it gets a lot of additional interest from the diversity and inclusion motive. I thought the 1977 short film was pretty good, though I haven't seen it in a long time. I think... a long format is maybe not the right way to go for a faithful adaptation. The author Gilman actually wrote nine novels, so I don't think she was incapable of long fiction, or disdainful of it, but yet she chose to write this as a short; and I have to trust that she knew what she was doing. Clearly, it's a literary classic, so... I dunno. Maybe we should trust the artist's judgement about the merits of brevity? I'm not too thrilled about the cinematography, but maybe they were just trying a lot of odd experiments with focus, camera angles, etc. To liven things up a bit. This is a slow, contemplative, meditative, cogitating, simmering, fermenting, rising in a pan in the corner, ripening, perambulating, gently unfolding film.
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7/10
Papering over the cracks.
morrison-dylan-fan13 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Finding The Curse of Willow Song (2020-also reviewed) to be a interesting mix of indie Drama and J-Horror-style chills, I was intrigued to spot a more Gothic-sounding title on the Cine-Excess Film Festival line-up, leading to me chipping away at the wallpaper.

View on the film:

While the limited locations give some hints of the small budget, co-editor (with Alexandra Loreth) co-writer (with Alexandra Loreth/Courtney Lehmann and Macelle Mahala) / director Kevin Pontuti & cinematographer Sonja Tsypin unveil an exquisite American Gothic atmosphere of delicate, fading yellows which in elegant push-in shots engulf Jane as her peace of mind begins to get chipped away.

On her own with only the wallpaper as company, co-editor/co-writer/ Alexandra Loreth gives a superb, understated feature film debut performance as Jane, whose forced upon regal Victorian image of being quietly withdrawn, is untied by Loreth as the jagged horror of hysteria starts to rip into her life.

Based on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1892 short story written as criticism to the view of the medical field of that era treatment for postnatal depression, the writers attempt to adapt the short tale into a feature runtime, which unintentionally results in everything being pulled to breaking point, as the character study of Jane gets pulled into a repetitive state which runs dry over new areas of the character to examine,as Jane looks at the yellow wallpaper.
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4/10
Is it over yet
haileystory-994948 November 2022
Warning: Spoilers
It could have been so good if it ended after she threw the baby out of the window. The short story has great potential to be a film but everything you could have done wrong went wrong. The soundtrack was garbage a three year old could have done better. The ending interpretation was really good, something I haven't thought about. This movie could have been 20 minutes and been 100000x better. Also did they get the actors off of Craigslist????? I've seen TikTok povs with better acting. Over all the best part of the movie was when it ended and I didn't have to watch it anymore. I recommend this movie as a punishment for young children.
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9/10
Delightfully creepy
tqdfg31 March 2022
Lush exteriors, austere interiors, and the creepy music and sound set the scene. This treatment of the source material makes you wonder if we've progressed much since then about how we care for women who are suffering. Excellent work by everyone in front of and behind the camera.
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7/10
Not a Horror Movie, Psychological Drama
dfields-469724 September 2022
I'm not sure why this is rated as a horror movie because it's really not. It's more of a psychological drama. Basically it's a woman who is dealing with postpartum depression and all of the "Horrors" that go along with it.

I'm very blessed that I never experienced post-partum but I know plenty of women do and it seems to be a horrifying situation.

I could relate to the feelings of anxiety and stress that go along with being a parent and all of the responsibilities.

Never downplay a person's mental health, never just appease them as in this movie. Find out what's really happening and get them help!!

I think that is the moral of this movie.
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1/10
Boring, boring, boring
sophiee139 November 2022
This is a lowbudget movie, they couldnt even afford real actors.

The lead actress was to say the least, absolutely terrible. Just as many others have noticed it looks like shes reading from a telepromter. She is the worst "actress" Ive ever seen.

The acting is slow, its not because its an artistic movie, its because the original story was short, theres not much to make a movie about.

The movie is overtheatrical, slow, boring and its obvious that some of the better reviews for this movie on this site are ironic.

The quality of the filming makes it quite obvious that it is a very, very low budget film.

And finally I wouldnt call it a horror movie. Its more like a feministic drama from a local theatergroup in a very tiny village, whos youngers member of the group just got a filmcamera for birthdaypresent and who wants to make his first movie..
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6/10
Raw
pamelajillweiler3 September 2022
I really enjoyed the premise of the story but my god the leading actress cannot act, she was dead like reading from a teleprompter. But I think movie revealed what it is like to go crazy especially during this time. Main character was suffering from postpartum, stuck in her mind, obsessing over minutia, unable to bond with her baby. It was pretty scary. I enjoyed the period costume and the lackluster home, devoid of comfort, bed in middle of room with windows always exposing, and the abundance of chipped paint. Silent tears of pain in exchange of screaming. I think the best acting came from the head servant who always had a look of dismay and disgust on her face. The other maid, didn't really have the look to fit in this movie.
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