Dorothy

Although writer/director Agnès Merlet resorted to too many clichés at times, Dorothy Mills does deserve credit for not taking the Hollywood road of botching the conclusion with special effects or nonsensical action scenes.

The movie has a solid pacing and takes the time to acclimate us with its characters. Unfortunately, most of them are terribly uninteresting and look like they were inspired by similar movies.

There are two glowing exceptions: psychiatrist Jane Van Dopp and our title character: the young and troubled Dorthy Mills. Dutch actress Carice Van Houten (The Black Book, Valkyrie) has a lot of presence on screen and manages to showcase all the emotions the doctor goes through, without overacting. The script still doesn't really do the actress justice but she does relatively well, despite not being completely at ease with English.

Without a doubt the most pleasant surprise of the whole movie will be the performance of newcomer Jenn Murray as Dorothy. Knowing that this movie was small budget and comparing her performance with the rest of the cast, one can only be amazed by her raw talent and presence. The role of Dorothy is incredibly challenging and it would have been easy for the movie to become unintentionally funny had the actress playing Dorothy been only average. But on the contrary, Jenn Murray elevates the movie by at least a point or two.

The story is slightly conventional. A nice twist at the end has a good effect to it but feels kind of forced. Some dramatic scenes barely work. More than anything else, the plot is almost ruined by not letting Dorothy be the sole vehicle of the strange happenings on the island.

But this is still a cool mystery movie with an awesome performance by Murray, whom I look forward to seeing in many more films.

Just when you think you know what this movie is about it surprises you. It's a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Great script, spot on direction. Wonderful acting by all. Carice van Houten plays it just perfectly as the doctor. Jenn Murray, is simply brilliant with a performance which must be seen.

It's hard to tell you what the story really is about without giving it away, but need to say it's a wonderful journey. From the setting on Hope this little film gets the distribution it deserves. It's just wonderful and I strongly recommend this movie.

Hope it gets some distribution in the US, as I think there is an audience for it. Nice to see what can be made for under a million dollars, a good script and a talented director.

A young girl Dorothy Mills was accused of trying to kill a baby that she was sitting for.Jane Morton is a psychiatrist who is sent to Dorothy's small Irish island.It is her job to try and understand what happened and to hopefully help Dorothy try and avoid a harsh punishment from the courts for what she had done.Is Dorothy suffering from multiple personality disorder or is she possessed by vengeful spirits?"Dorothy Mills" is highly derivative.It borrows several elements from Robin Hardy's "The Wicker Man" and Herk Harvey's "Carnival of Souls".I must admit that the titular performance of Jenn Murray is extremely believable,unfortunately the film drags quite a bit during its middle section.Still it's worth checking out if you are into subtle ghost stories.The photography of Irish cliffs is stunning too.6 out of 10.

a solid and fresh story with great actings especially the 2 main leads.

2 surprising twists, one around the middle when you realize what is happening to dorothy and one in the end which explains it all, what makes it great is you do not see this coming, well at least i didn't.

remember that crappy movie with nicolas cage about a crazed community on an island ? well this is not at all like that altho i thought it would be when i read the synopsis.

so if you think you know the story because it involves a closed community living on an island with the main lead being an outsider, think again.

there are many crappy movie in the genre, this is not one of them.

as a bonus the psychiatrist is very easy on the eye ;)

In Ireland, the psychiatrist Jane Morton (Carice van Houten) is assigned to give a psychological assessment to the disturbed teenager Dorothy Mills (Jenn Murray) that tried to strangle a baby while babysitting him. After leaving the island ferry, an orange car with three teenagers causes an accident with Jane's car that falls in the sea and miraculously survives. She finds a hostile environment in the island with the unsettled dwellers that seems to be nervous with her presence. Jane seeks out Dorothy in the house of her Aunt Eileen MacMahon that is raising the girl and after a couple of interviews, she discovers that Dorothy has multiple personality disorder, impersonating the three year-old Mimi; and the teenagers Mary, Kurt and Duncan. When Dorothy embodies David, the young son of Jane that drowned in a tragic accident, the grieving psychiatrist also finds that the backward locals are fanatic religious believers and something dark lives in the island.

"Dorothy Mills" is a little gem of the supernatural genre to be discovered by movie lovers that follows the same style of the underrated "Haunted" and "The Innocents" with an engaging and ambiguous ghost story. The debut of Jenn Murray is spectacular and this young unknown actress is stunning performing different characters with her multiple personality disorder. It is impossible to guess her real age and in some moments she looks like an innocent girl and in the other an easy young woman. The point that I liked most is the ambiguity of the dramatic and mysterious plot, where a mourning psychiatrist (therefore with emotional problems) evaluates a disturbed girl in a dysfunctional society. Therefore the truth of the events in the island is never one hundred percent clear since it is narrated by a maladjusted character and consequently open to interpretation. My only remark is the underrated IMDb User Rating (6.0/10 with 1371 votes) since this film truly deserves a better rating. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Os Demônios de Dorothy Mills" ("The Demons of Dorothy Mills")