Mary Shelley, directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour is an incredible ‘proto-feminist’ film about hardship, loneliness and grief, but also the happiness and hopefulness of what this misery can bring us. The inspirational yet demonising Percy Shelley, the force of nature that is Claire Clairmont, and of course the spectacular being that is Mary Shelley. A woman shown by Al-Mansour to be so strong, so powerful yet so irreversibly vulnerable to her own emotions. Not only is this the story of her bountiful journey to writing the incredible tale that is ‘Frankenstein,’ it is also her daggering and painful truth. That which touched me. The struggles she endured just because she gave into an emotion that left her to fight regret and torment. And of course, she didn’t regret it. Because how could we, how can anyone regret an emotion that is so present? If she didn’t follow her love, she would have spent her life wondering what could have been. And even though it didn’t turn out in the fulfilling happiness she wanted, it was instead a balance happiness and sadness that she needed to create the heart wrenching novel that is ‘Frankenstein’ that is so highly regarded to this day. This film inspired me, and I hope it inspires many more women that watch it.