This year, Fantastic Fest featured several films with terrifying mother figures, like Crazy Old Lady, The Evil That Binds Us, A Woman Called Mother, and Fuck My Son. Dolly offers up another version of a mother from hell. While Dolly doesn’t reinvent the wheel with a masked killer stalking a couple during a pivotal moment in their relationship, it does offer haunting images, a creepy score, and some impressive special effects. In the film, someone kidnaps Macy with the intention of raising her as their own child. Anytime a horror film sends its protagonist to an isolated location, I feel the urge to bite my nails. Dolly drums up The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Barbarian vibes, and is worth the watch if you want to be disturbed.
Horror Movie Couples
In my experience, following a couple in a horror movie usually causes me to check out. I am not concerned with their relationship problems, and I have no interest in characters defeating the antagonist with the power of love (word to Luther Vandross). Macy (Fabianne Therese) grapples with the concept of motherhood as the relationship arc unfolds. However, that arc is pushed to the background to focus on the immediate danger lurking in the woods.
We don’t get a lot of interaction between Macy and her soon-to-be stepdaughter. We also get limited interactions between Chase (Seann William Scott) and Macy before he is left to die in the woods. The couple encounters abandoned dolls quickly on their journey. Instead of fleeing at once, they decide to continue hiking. Of course, they run into the masked killer whose moans and whimpers seem to echo in the score. Chase is dispatched with ease, and Macy ends up playing “baby” to survive. This is horrifying because we open the film seeing what happened to the last “baby”.
Playing Baby
Much of the film showcases Macy as she actively tries to escape while also working to earn her captor’s trust. Many of the scenes are gag-inducing as viewers watch Macy being force-fed in ways that seem to get progressively worse with each new option. It was as if I could smell the screen, a sensation I associate with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Wrong Turn, and The Hills Have Eyes. I also feel incredible discomfort watching adults being forced to behave like babies or young children. Movies like Barbarian and The Baby always make me internally scream.
Same Shit, Different Day
We watch as Macy has to suffer through diaper changing and spanking. Watching Macy suffer made the short runtime feel longer than it was. Her failed attempts at escape kept landing her in the same position. It started to feel a little like Groundhog Day, but I was still rooting for her. I was not rooting for the voice we hear, and later meet, in the room near Macy’s. I knew from the beginning it was sinister, so it was no surprise that the rescue mission turned into a fight for survival. The film also pans back to Chase, who should have BEEN dead many scenes ago. I feel like the movie could have used more Seann William Scott, but the script didn’t fully support that. If he hadn’t been taken out so quickly, I wonder how the film’s flow would change.
Although the film drags in the middle, it delivers plenty of terror. Chase’s jaw deserves to be credited. Many of the scenes evoked visceral reactions in me. I am still thinking about the feeding scenes. You’ll have to check out Dolly to see how it ends, but it’s worth a watch if you’re willing to be disturbed. Be prepared for a lot of heavy breathing.
