‘What Happened To Dorothy Bell?’: New Found Footage Horror Breaks Free From Genre Expectations [Fantastic Fest 2024 Review]
Sometimes it’s the people closest to us who hurt us the most. This is something that Ozzie Gray (Asya Meadows) discovered during her childhood when her grandmother violently attacked her. Now that she is an adult and is working through her own mental health struggles, Ozzie reexamines the incident. She uncovers the secrets her family kept from her and a terrifying threat. The new found footage project What Happened To Dorothy Bell? feels familiar. It is tempting to compare it to The Taking Of Deborah Logan, or so many movies where families are cursed with something supernatural, like Hereditary. This title may play in the shadows of those films but does a couple of things that set it apart.
One of my grandmothers was verbally abusive, and I had to finally cut her off when I was 12. She died years ago. However, I am still discovering ways in which her behavior has affected her grandchildren, even so many years later. So, Ozzie spending time unpacking the psychological impact of this traumatic event with her grandma is very interesting. It’s also relatable as many of us spend time looking back on incidents from our formative years now that we are adults. How often do we discover our triggers are traceable to something that seemed normal when we were kids? And since she’s a millennial, it also makes sense that she would document this journey as we are all continually living for future nostalgia. Recording and archiving even the most mundane things has become a way to cope with constantly living through “unprecedented times”.
Also Read: 5 Old Lady Slashers That Prove Age Is Just A Number
Another thing I love is when old ladies get to be the problem in genre film. The industry has so few interesting roles for women, and specifically tries to typecast women over 25. What Happened To Dorothy Bell? definitely adds another ghoulish granny to a short list of vicious older women in horror. This is one of the ways that the movie eagerly dives into representation and intersectionality. It also proves that it can be done in the wake of so many films dealing with similar topics that chose to default to white main characters.
I appreciated seeing a Black family as the sole focus of the movie. We have been led to believe so many recent supernatural horror movies would finally center on Black people, only to show up and see Black actors have to share the spotlight. The Exorcist: Believer split the possession with a whole other family to keep the streak going. It then inserted legacy characters just because they could. Even The Front Room and The Deliverance ensured at least one white person would be central to the story—as if the Black women leading the films were not enough of a draw. I hate this trend of companies acting like they are finally going to do the right thing only to find new ways to center whiteness and remind us they are not serious about addressing the huge racial disparities we continue to see on screen.
Also Read: ‘Terrifier 3’ Review: Art The Clown Is Back And Nastier Than Ever [Fantastic Fest 2024]
Because What Happened To Dorothy Bell? never steals the focus away from Ozzie and her family, it allows itself to step into some pretty important topics. Specifically the intersection of Blackness and mental health. This is an important conversation that so many creators keep skipping over. So, I love that it’s baked into the story here. Mental health and generational trauma are used to fuel Ozzie’s investigation. This grounds it in something much bigger than the movies taking potshots at influencers. It also is a reminder that healing is not glamorous and fast. It’s a process that’ll have many setbacks, and reveal so much that you’ll not want to know about yourself. However, it’s an important step to take when releasing the things that hold us back.
What Happened To Dorothy Bell? will probably go over better with found footage diehards as it mixes many types of media. The information comes at you via video diaries, security camera footage, home video camcorder tapes, and even virtual telehealth calls with therapists. I appreciated combining mediums because it helps break up the monotony that some other types of found footage movies suffer from. It also lends itself to this almost dreamlike world that writer/director Danny Villanueva Jr. has crafted.
Also Read: ‘V/H/S/Beyond’ Is Spectacular Sci-Fi Chaos [Fantastic Fest 2024 Review]
Meadows is joined by Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child) and Michael Hargrove (Nia DaCosta’s Candyman). They round out the cast and give horror fans a little treat to nerd out over. They also help to tether Ozzie (and the audience) to what we assume is the real world.
What Happened To Dorothy Bell? has a few unsettling moments, but it’s not a gore fest or nightmare fuel. I found myself mostly unpacking the things that were relatable while being happy that Black people are finally getting a moment to deal with demons without their white counterparts being shoehorned in. Overall, the movie is a solid first feature for Villanueva Jr. I’m excited to see what’s next for this filmmaker and what lessons he takes from this project throughout his career.
-
What Happened To Dorothy Bell?
Summary
‘What Happened To Dorothy Bell?’ has a few unsettling moments, but it is not a gore fest or nightmare fuel. I found myself mostly unpacking the things that were relatable while being happy that Black people are finally getting a moment to deal with demons without their white counterparts being shoehorned in. Overall, the movie is a pretty solid first feature for Villanueva Jr.
Categorized:Reviews
