Movie · 2011 · Drama, Romance · 1h 39m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 3.9/10 (137.4K ratings)
She's worth all the trouble.
Overview
London, 1956. Genius actor and film director Laurence Olivier is about to begin the shooting of his upcoming movie, premiered in 1957 as The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Marilyn Monroe. Young Colin Clark, who dreams on having a career in movie business, manages to get a job on the set as third assistant director.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.9/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.25/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Metacritic: 65
TMDB: 6.7/10
Director
Simon Curtis
Production
The Weinstein Company, BBC Film, Trademark Films, Lipsync Productions
Cast
Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Dominic Cooper, Philip Jackson, Derek Jacobi, Toby Jones, Michael Kitchen, Julia Ormond, Simon Russell Beale, Dougray Scott, Zoë Wanamaker, Emma Watson, Judi Dench, Jim Carter, Richard Clifford, Robert Portal, Pip Torrens, Geraldine Somerville, Miranda Raison
Curator Review
Verdict
A polished, modestly engaging biographical drama anchored by a standout Michelle Williams performance. It’s most rewarding as a star-portrait and period piece, but the framing feels conventional and a little too safe to fully capture Marilyn Monroe’s complexity.
Best for
viewers who want a strong lead performance above all else
fans of glossy 1950s period dramas
audiences interested in Hollywood behind-the-scenes stories
people who enjoy intimate, low-key biopics
Skip if
you want a bold or formally inventive biography
you’re looking for a deep psychological study of Marilyn Monroe
you dislike films that feel like tasteful prestige TV in feature form
you prefer ensemble stories where the central character isn’t filtered through an outsider
Overview
My Week with Marilyn is the kind of biopic that lives or dies on its central performance, and Michelle Williams makes the case for watching it. She captures Marilyn’s fragility, wit, vanity, and loneliness without turning her into an imitation or a saint. The film’s period detail is elegant, and the backstage setting gives it a pleasant, lightly melancholic sheen.
Worth noting
What holds it back is the script’s caution. It often feels like a respectable summary of a famous week rather than a penetrating character study, and the outsider framing can make the movie feel oddly distant from the woman it’s about. Still, the emotional texture is there in flashes, especially when the film lets Marilyn’s public image and private exhaustion collide.
Bottom line
If you’re here for atmosphere, craft, and a star turn that dominates every scene, it delivers. If you want a more searching or daring portrait of celebrity and self-invention, it may feel frustratingly restrained.
Top Letterboxd reviews
ButtNugget (3★) · 257 likes
Friendly reminder: Michelle Williams is the best American actress working today. Nobody comes close; she is a fucking godsend to contemporary cinema and we are very lucky to have her with us, gracing the silver screen on a timely basis. With that said, I turn my thoughts to My Week with Marilyn, Simon Curtis’ prosaic yet sprightly biopic of legendary Hollywood movie star Marilyn Monroe focusing on her 1957 collaboration with Shakespearean thespian-cum-filmmaker Laurence Olivier in The Prince and the… more Friendly reminder: Michelle Williams is the best American actress working today. Nobody comes close; she is a fucking godsend to contemporary cinema and we are very lucky to have her with us, gracing the silver screen on a timely basis. With that said, I turn my thoughts to My Week with Marilyn, Simon Curtis’ prosaic yet sprightly biopic of legendary Hollywood movie star Marilyn Monroe focusing on her 1957 collaboration with Shakespearean thespian-cum-filmmaker Laurence Olivier in The Prince and the… more
alina 寧 (4★) · 244 likes
michelle williams' performance as marilyn utterly dominates the film, her acting's spectacular; it's done with such compassion and believably. she nails monroe's smile, walk and mannerisms, all while managing to not drift into a caricature of her. it's a multilayered performance that goes further than simply just an impersonation; there's erratic mixtures of glamour and vulnerability, she fabulously evokes both the timid woman and the outlandish celebrity construct that was marilyn monroe
Tylot Lantern (4★) · 220 likes
Marilyn Monroe in her natural habitat, the bath.
Sam (1★) · 200 likes
My Week with Marilyn? More like, My Week with Eddie Redmayne!
rach (4★) · 182 likes
can the academy please get their shit together and give michelle williams the awards she deserves
1959 · Comedy, Romance, Crime · 2h 3m · NR · Curator 9.7/10 (658.9K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, MGM Plus, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A sharper, funnier Marilyn vehicle that balances glamour, comedy, and vulnerability with effortless timing.
1955 · Comedy, Romance · 1h 45m · NR · Curator 4.3/10 (115.2K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, TCM, Darkroom, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Another essential Marilyn performance, built around the tension between iconography and private desire.