Lovely Molly

I rarely criticise a movie for its technical choices rather than its script or character development. However, this instance stands out, as I find it necessary to commend the storyline for addressing some sensitive (and significant) subject matters but cannot and will not extend the same degree of appreciation to its execution on the broader level.

The mixed style, continuously oscillating between found footage and conventional cinematography was frustrating. A more decisive approach in selecting one particular style would have benefited the script I reckon.

Regarding the narrative, I was captivated by how it gradually builds tension while delving into darker themes. The darkness is pursued, not rushed into and it embraces it completely as we reach conclusion.

Incorporation of psychological trauma with a suggested entity of malevolence was a genuinely ingenious idea that could have yielded a superior outcome had it not been executed in such a technically as well as tonally convoluted way.

Before I finish I must specifically mention the performance of Gretchen Lodge in the lead role. She delivered an outstanding portrayal of a woman showing scars of past trauma and slowly descending into madness, which was quite impressive for a film of this scope and ambition.

Her parents both dead, Molly (Gretchen Lodge) moves into her childhood home with trucker husband Tim (Johnny Lewis); but while Tim is away at work, Molly begins to experience terrifying occurrences that make her believe that she is being haunted by the spirit of her abusive father. As the terror mounts nightly, Molly—an ex-junkie—finds herself returning to her old habits for comfort...

Eduardo Sánchez's Lovely Molly begins with a close-up of a distraught Molly speaking directly to her video camera—a scene that directly references Heather Donahue's classic monologue from Sánchez's 1999 hit The Blair Witch Project; it's a rather amusing move by the director, one that blatantly acknowledges the similarities in technique and style between his new film and that with which he first made his name.

Thankfully, despite a very familiar feel to proceedings throughout (particularly thanks to a fair amount of shaky hand-held video footage), Lovely Molly does mark another level of progression for Sánchez as a film-maker: it is a technically superior piece to Blair Witch, the plot being far more complex and the production more polished, but more importantly, it sees the director using tricks developed on his first few films much more effectively, taking the terror to new heights.

Certainly for the first hour or so, Lovely Molly succeeds in being one of the scariest movies in a long while, Sánchez using his tried and trusted bag of tricks—creepy noises, impenetrable blackness, a well developed sense of vulnerability—to ramp up the tension to pant-wetting levels; he is aided in no small part by a fine central performance from Lodge (who is indeed very lovely!) and excellent sound design which adds immensely to the eerie atmosphere.

Sadly, the nearer the film approaches the end, the less it succeeds in chilling the spine: Sánchez slowly loses his grip on proceedings, with way too many plot details hurriedly brought into play, and the ambiguous nature of the narrative leading to utter confusion rather than fright. Ultimately, the viewer is left to question whether Molly has lost her mind or whether there really was a supernatural explanation for her behaviour. Reaching a satisfactory conclusion ain't easy.

8 out of 10 for the first hour; 5 out of 10 for the rest (an average of 6.5/10 by my calculations, which gets rounded up to a 7 for IMDb).

Molly (Gretchen Lodge) is a janitor who marries Tim (Johnny Lewis), a long distance truck driver. They move into her old family home, but since Tim is away a lot of the time, it leaves Molly alone with her unpleasant memories of her youth; obsessed with filming things, she comes to believe that there is some unholy, spectral presence in the house.

Commendably, Eduardo Sanchez, best known for "The Blair Witch Project", never dips his toes all the way into supernatural waters, preferring to leave us with an ambiguous take on a young woman losing her sanity and her health. This is also a young woman so deeply traumatized that it doesn't take much to send her over the edge. Indeed, she is a former junkie who is soon using once again. And Tim and Molly's sister Hannah (Alexandra Holden) are at their wits' end trying to cope with Molly's behaviour.

The film does keep visual effects to a bare minimum, but gives lovers of more visceral horror some good gore to enjoy. What "Lovely Molly" really is, is a good "slow burn" type of psychological horror film, the kind we don't get all that often in an era where genre cinema typically depends on jump scares. One of its main assets is the sound design, which Sanchez had perfected with BWP and a minimal budget. It's guaranteed to keep some viewers on edge. The other major point of interest is a gripping, bravura central performance by Lodge, who makes Molly sympathetic enough to sustain the films' 100 minute run time. But the acting from all of the principals is engaging, including Field Blauvelt as the genial Pastor Bobby.

Location shooting in Maryland, cinematography, production design, and music are all well done, but ultimately take a back seat to the journey undertaken by our haunted main character.

Seven out of 10.

The janitor Molly (Gretchen Lodge) marries the truck driver Tim (Johnny Lewis) and they move to the house of her deceased parents. Tim needs to drive and leaves Molly alone in the house. Soon Molly is haunted by her past and by her abusive father and she sees him in the house. Molly uses drugs again and records everything with her camera, expecting to prove that she is not crazy. Meanwhile, her sister Hannah (Alexandra Holden), Tim and his friend, Pastor Bobby (Field Blauvelt) try to help her, but Molly becomes dangerous and violent.

"Lovely Molly" is an ambiguous horror movie where it is not clear whether Molly is possessed by the evil spirit of her abusive father or whether she is mentally ill, after an incident with Tim and a neighbor a couple of days after her birthday. This is basically the debut of the unknown Gretchen Lodge and she delivers a top-notch performance. The screenplay is a little messy and the director fails in the conclusion, and maybe this is the reason of the bad reviews in IMDb. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Adorável Molly" ("Lovely Molly")

A newly-wed couple move to a new home. This place was the childhood house of the wife, Molly. She experienced some trauma there as a child. Immediately on arrival strange frightening things begin to occur. As a recovering heroin addict, the terrifying events are put down by some to be the result of her returning to drugs. Her husband is mostly away from home because of his work, leaving Molly on her own. She films many things on a hand-held camera.

The latest film from Eduardo Sánchez, one of the co-directors of The Blair Witch Project, is a different kind of horror film from that one but with similarities. The film opens á la Blair Witch with a close up of a woman who is filming herself; she is in terror for reasons not yet understood. The videotaped material which appears throughout is generally a clear nod to that famous film. But that's where the similarities end, as Lovely Molly is a much more traditional supernatural horror movie. It's one of those films where the set-up allows for several possible answers to the unknown terror. Is the source of Molly's trauma the supernatural? Her inner demons? Is it drug-induced? By the end of the movie there are answers of sorts, although there remains an enigmatic quality. The audience are allowed to piece things together themselves. It's one of those pictures that you want to watch again after a first viewing to try to put together all the pieces of the puzzle.

Gretchen Lodge is excellent in the central role. It's a part which demands some emotionally fraught moments. Lovely Molly is all about the central character, most of everything is told from her perspective. Another significant contributing factor is the soundtrack. It's very eerie but it isn't typical horror music. The score is by the band Tortoise who are one of the pioneers of post-rock. The atmospherics they help create are pretty significant here; discordant humming and threatening sounds. Add to this the little weird details such as the horses' heads, the disconnected scenes of the neighbouring family or the weird shrine in the cellar. There are a lot of things to spook you out.

This has to go down as an excellent return to the horror genre by Sánchez. It has a good balance of suspense, mystery, weirdness and dramatics to ensure that Lovely Molly is one of the more interesting horror efforts of late.