| Director | Andrew Dominik |
|---|---|
| Genre | biographical film, drama film, film based on a novel, historical film |
| Runtime | 167 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $22 million |
Six-year-old Norma Jeane Mortenson is raised by her mentally unstable mother, Gladys Pearl Baker. On her seventh birthday in 1933, Norma Jeane is given a framed picture of a man Gladys claims was her father. Later that night, a fire breaks out in Hollywood Hills. Gladys attempts to drive Norma Jeane there, saying a friend with a fireproof mansion lives nearby, but is forced to return by police. When Norma asks why her father left, Gladys becomes enraged, crying, shouting, and hitting her. Back home, Gladys runs a bath and forces Norma Jeane in despite her protests, then tries to drown her. Norma Jeane flees to her neighbor Miss Flynn, and days later is sent to an orphanage while Gladys is admitted to a mental hospital.
In the 1940s, Norma Jeane becomes a pin-up model under the name "Marilyn Monroe," appearing on magazine covers and calendars. While trying to break into acting, she is raped by studio head Mr. Z. In 1951, she auditions for Don't Bother to Knock; though she breaks down, she impresses the casting director and is given the part. As her career rises, she meets Charles "Cass" Chaplin Jr. and Edward G. "Eddy" Robinson Jr., becoming a lover to both. She gains wider fame with Niagara, but her agent urges her to limit public appearances with them, upsetting her as she feels the Marilyn persona is not her real self.
Norma Jeane becomes pregnant by Cass and, fearing the child may inherit her mother's condition, decides on an abortion. Though she changes her mind on the day, her pleas are ignored. She later ends her relationships with Cass and Eddy. She meets Joe DiMaggio, who sympathizes with her desire to leave Hollywood and pursue serious acting in New York City. During Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, she receives a letter from a man claiming to be her father. Feeling detached from her performance at the premiere, she returns to her hotel expecting to meet him, but instead finds DiMaggio, who proposes; she accepts reluctantly.
Their marriage deteriorates when Cass and Eddy give Joe nude publicity photos of her, enraging him; he hits Norma Jeane and demands she stop making The Seven Year Itch. She continues filming, performing the famous white dress scene. Returning home, she faces further violence and soon divorces him.
In 1955, Norma Jeane auditions for the Broadway play Magda by Arthur Miller. Though initially unimpressed, Miller warms to her insight. They marry and move to Maine, where she becomes pregnant again, but later suffers a miscarriage after a fall. Distraught, she returns to acting. While filming Some Like It Hot, she becomes increasingly unstable, overwhelmed by press attention, clashing with director Billy Wilder and growing distant from Miller, while relying on pills.
By 1962, she is dependent on drugs and alcohol. Secret Service agents take an intoxicated Norma Jeane to meet President John F. Kennedy, who rapes her before she is dismissed. Disoriented, she questions her life as Marilyn Monroe and hallucinates another abortion before returning to her home in Los Angeles. Eddy later informs her that Cass has died and left her a package containing a stuffed tiger and a letter revealing he had been writing the letters posing as her father.
Shattered, Norma Jeane overdoses on barbiturates; as she dies, she envisions her father welcoming her into the afterlife.