Netflix’s Blonde receives mixed reviews after director Andrew Dominik says film ‘is supposed to leave you shaking’

The director of Netflix’s Blonde has said that he hopes to leave audiencs “shaking” with his highly anticipated adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel.

Andrew Dominik, 54, from New Zealand, has spent over 10 years working on his latest movie about Marilyn Monroe.

Ana de Armas has taken on the role of the Hollywood starlet, with Andrew quick to warn fans that the film won’t be easy to watch.

Blonde first made headlines at the start of the year when Netflix gave the movie a rare ‘adults only’ rating.

Andrew Dominik’s views towards his film reflects the rating and his statement of not being “concerned with being tasteful”.

The two hour and 46 minute film received a 14-minute standing ovation at the Cannes film festival in May.

Speaking to Sight and Sound, Andrew said that the film is “supposed to leave you shaking”.

“It’s a howl of pain or rage. Of all the films I’ve made, it’s the one that strikes me the most differently each time I watch it,” he added.

The director chose to skip over several achievements in Marilyn Monroe’s life in the film, including forming her own production company.

He explained that the film aims to explore the reasons why the actress killed herself instead of focusing on her lasting legacy.

Andrew said: If you look at Marilyn Monroe, she’s got everything that society tells us is desirable. She’s famous. She’s beautiful. She’s rich.

“If you look at the Instagram version of her life, she’s got it all. And she killed herself.”

Andrew explained that he chose to focus more on the emotional aspect of Marilyn Monroe’s life, because he finds her feelings more interesting than how she was able to wrestle control away from men at the film studio.

The director added that he believes there will be “a lot more movies about Marilyn Monroe”.

The actress, whose original name was Norma Jeane Mortenson, was just 36-years-old when she was found dead from an overdose at her home in California.

She became known as a “blonde bombshell” and “sex symbol” after finding fame in Hollywood in 1953, with films such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire.

Andrew Dominik’s Blonde has received mixed reviews since it debuted on Netlflix, with many viewers taking to Twitter claiming that they’ve struggled to watch it to the end.

A now-deleted tweet said: “Couldn’t stomach more than about 20 minutes of the nearly three hours length. That 20 minutes was nothing but cruel and heartbreaking. Absolutely unwatchable”

One person wrote: “I had the extreme misfortune of watching Blonde on Netflix last night and let me tell you that movie is so anti-abortion, so sexist, so exploitative. CanNOT recommend it LESS. Do not watch. The abortion scenes in particular are terrible, but so is the whole entire movie.”

Another commented: “#BlondeNetflix is distasteful. Even if it is a fictionalized story, there can be some care put towards the film. There is this emotional detachment from Marilyn Monroe that makes this such a dark and graphic film. It’s actually disturbing how exploitative this is.”

A third added: “I’m not even finished with it & I’m not exaggerating when I say “blonde” on Netflix is one of the worst films I’ve ever seen in my 28 years of life. i’m not gonna even bother finishing it.”