Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: WELCOME TO DOLLY’S HOUSE [Fantastic Fest - Austin, Texas]
The sole animation film viewed at this year’s Fantastic Fest is an intriguing dichotomy. It sets up a specific world for half the film trying to build empathy for the characters before tearing it down in a way for a different story and world to emerge that is much more intriguing and likely should have begun in that world from the start. Granted the film sees itself as part of a larger world but it lost momentum in the beginning by trying to paint a love story that was never really fully formed to begin with. "Welcome to Dolly’s House" follows Maria, an influencer who dresses like a doll and her boyfriend who have a channel called Urban Legends. The film starts off with them in a forbidden crypt where she tries to propose to him. It backfires but then we find out that he is really a botanist on the side. He is into her and then not. She pines back and forth while he seems to have an alternative path lined up. Besides a mid-credit scene, it doesn’t really substantiate that plot thread as much as it should. More interesting is the Madame who creates dolls (and it seems other creations). The mythology we eventually learn and how it is controlled is pretty cool but only really explored in one scene within a certain consciousness.
Maria’s actual backstory once revealed is really riveting but again not fully developed. However the darkness starts to enter, especially with her boyfriend, after he is demeaned/thwarted. At this point everybody’s true colors come through. Now this whole sequence of events is perpetrated by Madame Dolly coming to town and Maria being invited to tea with her. The lottery mechanism seems a little too contrived as a plot ploy especially when most people are dying to meet the dollmaker. Madame also has the ability to read history or emotions in inanimate objects so there is a whole metaphorical structure going on there as well. The reality is that as abstract as the film wants to be there are some glaring plot holes that can’t be fixed despite some great imagery towards the end. The story itself needed more fine tuning before it came to hear because it feels both creatively ingenious at times towards the end but also pandering in certain ways. The rotoscope animation style is well done and not uncanny but still flowing. The ending tries to point to an ongoing story but this one was a little disjointed from the start. By trying to be too modern, it loses a little bit of the mythical luster it might have gained by toning that down. "Welcome To Dolly’s House" has some great ideas and some cool imagery towards the end but suffers from structural decisions that could have been avoided as well as some gaping plot holes and connections that don’t really make sense as they should. 78%/C+
By Tim Wassberg
