review by Josh Keown Pro
Lovely Molly 2012
Watched Aug 27, 2012
Josh Keown’s review:
“It’s never been me. It’s Him.”
-Molly (Gretchen Lodge)
So Lovely Molly marks the return of Eduardo Sanchez to the found footage genre (sort of), and follows a young woman named Molly (obviously) a newlywed who moves into her childhood home with her husband Tim. Soon, inexplicable events begin to take place, sending our lovely Molly onto a road of fear and paranoia.
To label it as a horror film would be unfair, as for the most part Lovely Molly is a slow-building drama and a character study detailing a decent into madness.
Gretchen Lodge’s performance as the titular Molly is truly phenomenal, especially considering this was her debut role. She captures the hysteria perfectly, whilst still being the victim. She is a product of her upbringing, not a being of pure evil. There isn’t a real monster here, only the demons of the human mind. We can utterly sympathise with Molly, because she isn’t a bad person, just one tortured by her past. It’s completely immersive, much like Sanchez’s earlier effort, The Blair Witch Project, because the characters are so human.
She certainly isn’t afraid to go all out either. No, I’m not just talking about the nudity, but also in her delivery of the role. She’s so erratic and unpredictable that her sanity is believably questionable, which is a good thing given the nature of the film (I think…). As with most character pieces, the supporting cast largely only serve to complement the lead, but all do fairly well regardless. Besides that, It’s generally nicely shot, and has great sound editing throughout.
The story is simple, but quite unpredictable, and its ambiguity kept me guessing till the very end. I’m sure it’s going to divide audiences much like Blair Witch did (it certainly leaves as many questions), but I for one loved it.
VERDICT; A creepy, genuinely unsettling portrait of insanity, and a fantastic little psychological thriller. It’s well made, and though not as powerful as Blair Witch, a sterling effort from a long dormant director.
On the other hand, there’s a slight chance (Only slight) this may just be a film about a girl who likes to get naked a lot, talk to her doors, shout at everyone else and keep rotting deer in the basement.
3.5/5 or 7/10
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