So this is a review for an older film.
Sue me.
It got some buzz when it came out but isn’t talked about a lot anymore so I wanted to talk about it a little.
There’s a tragedy with horror films in that they are so disregarded unless it’s ‘prestige’ horror that when actors and actresses put on performances of a career they are often overlooked because it’s ‘just in a horror film’. While horror can be bombastic and obnoxious, much of it can also delve into the darkness of the human heart and human condition and tell stories that other genres don’t.
The tragedies in these films may include beasts and psychopaths but the worst monsters of all are the ones that lie within. In a LOVELY MOLLY actress Gretchen Lodge puts on a brave, brilliant performance that is as heartbreaking as it is haunting. Playing the haunted and abused Molly, she goes places with her performance that had to be taxing both emotionally and physically and as much as we laud actors for their physical transformations we often shrug off performances that take us to the bleakness of pain.
The film works so well, and it works very well, because of her performance.
It’s well shot, wonderfully scored, tells a haunting story, but it’s her portrayal of a recovering addict, haunted by a terrible past that gives the movie its power.
It’s chills.
While the film takes a turn to the supernatural – whether you like that or not, I mean, it does – the circle holds because of Lodge’s performance. And everyone in it is good, truly, but it’s her that is the star here.
The film tells the story of a newlyweds moving into the wife’s family’s old home so they can save some money. The husband is a truck driver that is often gone, leaving Molly to reckon with the ghosts of her past alone. As she adjusts to a new life in old surroundings she begins to suspect that the specter of her father may be more than just a stretching shadow over her life but something more tangible and dangerous.
While the film takes a turn to the supernatural it is grounded in the failing mental and emotional faculties of Molly and plays not so much like a traditional paranormal film but like a drama showing the decline of someone with so much hope and light.
There is a late subplot involving the husband that feels messy because it’s not given enough runway to really mean anything but it doesn’t harm what is a slow burn horror film that really sticks with the viewer. With a memorable and chilling ending, this is a movie that deserves a spot on the shelf. Having a pedigree of coming from some of the same people behind BLAIR WITCH, you can see some of that DNA here. Especially in the special features on the disc. The pseudo-documentary treats the film as if it’s a portrayal of real events and this is telling you the history of it. For some it may be like telling you how a trick is done but I liked it because it’s a fun way to expand the film and add a mythology to things without forcing it all into the movie itself.
The movie is sacrosanct, the doc is just fan fiction.
LOVELY MOLLY is a beautiful, sad, haunting film. There is a lot going on it and it is a film that offers more the more you revisit it. It’s a very effective, very affecting movie and one that is just as powerful as when I first saw it and it’s a shame that more people don’t talk about it.
4.25 out of 5
