Reel Reviews: Dolly (2025)
Hey y'all let's see what's up today! This film popped up on my suggestions on Shudder (probably because of my slight Chucky obsession) and I had heard a few people in my club talk about it so I decided to give it a whirl! Now fair warning I did not have any sort of context for this film I went in completely blind, and I think that somewhat affected my opinion of the film somewhat.
The Summary
A hiking trip in Tennessee goes wrong for Macy and her boyfriend Chase as a strange woman wearing a doll mask abducts her and attempts to raise her as a child.
The Review
As I mentioned before, I went into this film with only the knowledge that several people in my horror club really liked it. We're talking no reviews, no research, no fan theories, it was just me and my snacks strapped in for the ride. That was probably the best and worst decision I could have made. On one hand, every twist and jumpscare had its desired effect because I had no spoilers but on the other hand there was definitely a deeper nuance that I didn't quite catch.
Despite my lack of understanding, I did enjoy the film as of writing this I have watched it twice. I think it is very well directed, the cinematic shots are stunning, and it reads to me almost like an early criminal minds episode.
This film reads more like a psychological horror to me, however there is a fair amount of gore and the special effects are absolutely FANTASTIC. I love the use of practical effects, you have all heard me rave about them, and this film has some of the best practical effects I've seen in awhile.
This film also takes place in Tennessee, which I thought was really neat! We do not have a lot of good horror that comes out of Tennessee so I was excited to see that this film was not only extremely well recived by most of the audience but that it was also really well loved.
The biggest thing that I had an issue with in this film is the fact that it seemed to kind of poke fun at autistic people. The antagonist exhibits a lot of autistic traits and they are used in a dramatic way and it was kind of not my favorite thing, as an autistic person myself. However, in saying that, its not as bad as some other depictions of autistic people in media at the very least these were believable and not so over the top they looked cartoonish.
I also noticed they took a lot of inspiration from Friday the 13th, there were a lot of nods to the franchise including the display of the antagonist's mother's decapitated head in a ceremonial shrine-like space. Films recycle a lot of concepts so I didn't necessarily have an issue with that specifically, however there were so many similarities to Friday the 13th franchise that were almost identical scene by scene that it made the film feel a little less original, and I think they definitely could have toned them down or changed them in some way to make the concepts feel different. The idea was there, but the presentation just fell a little flat with that.
Aside from the gore there is some content that could read as fetish content for a lot of people. I know thats not something everyone is uncomfortable with however I found it to be very uncomfortable. I would maybe watch some other reviews or at least look up some content warnings to see what you feel comfortable with before you watch.
Closing
That's all I have for you guys right now, but stay tuned later today I'm going to be sharing my review for the Backrooms: Everything Must Go extended cut. If psychological horror is your vibe and you want to watch Dolly for yourself, it's currently streaming on Shudder. If you want to see more from me feel free to click the link below where you can find my other socials. Y'all take care, and thanks for stopping by!
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