Synopsis
As the muse of Hal Hartley’s indie classics and as writer/director of the critically acclaimed Waitress, Adrienne Shelly was a shining star in the indie film firmament. A devoted young mother, her life was right on track until her husband found her dead. Filmmaker Andy Ostroy has been fighting to discover the truth about his wife’s death ever since.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Adrienne ShellySelf (archive footage)
- Andy OstroySelf
- Paul RuddSelf
- Keri RussellSelf
- Cheryl HinesSelf
- Nathan FillionSelf
- Lew TempleSelf
- Jessie MuellerSelf
- Jeremy SistoSelf
- Hal HartleySelf
Recommendations
- 91
The Playlist
Not only does Ostroy contextualize her life outside of filmmaking, but he also centralizes Shelly’s steady and progressive growth from actress-for-hire to independent filmmaking force, noting how creative autonomy allowed her to develop her own projects but also slowed down the development time in-between movies as she scraped together financing. - 83
IndieWire
Adrienne is a beautiful testament to the power of Adrienne Shelly and will hopefully inspire fans, new and old, to revisit her work. Andy Ostroy’s documentary certainly emphasizes the emotional and sentimental, but that intimacy bonds the audience to Shelly as a woman. Bring tissues. - 80
Little White Lies
A striking portrait of Shelly’s life that will have you seeking out her work and wondering what could have been. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
It isn’t polished and it isn’t focused, and at times there’s a rawness to its emotional exposure that left me feeling a little uncomfortable. But in those respects, it’s a wholly reasonable expression of the sort of grief that, even 14 years later, defies understanding. - 70
Wall Street Journal
It’s also a film made by her grieving husband. On paper, it shouldn’t work at all. It works measurably better on screen.
