‘Dorothea’ VOD Review
Stars: Susan Priver, Pat McNeely, Ezra Buzzington, Robert Rhine, Brandon Kirk, Ginger Lynn, Lew Temple, Brinke Stevens | Written and Directed by Chad Ferrin
Chad Ferrin’s Dorothea tackles the chilling true story of Dorothea Puente, the seemingly sweet elderly landlady who preyed on vulnerable tenants throughout the 1980s. It’s a case steeped in horror, manipulation, and tragedy – a narrative that feels tailor-made for a grounded psychological thriller. Instead, Ferrin opts for a blend of grim true crime and grindhouse-style dark comedy, creating a film that’s often at odds with itself.
Susan Priver steps into the lead role with a performance that fluctuates between unsettling charm and broad, almost cartoonish menace. Her habit of breaking the fourth wall could have been a powerful tool, inviting us into Dorothea’s twisted mindset, making the audience complicit, but the script leans too heavily into wry humour for the device to hit its full potential. Priver has worked with Ferrin before, and there’s a familiarity to her delivery, but it never fully captures the cold, methodical cruelty that made Puente such a horrifying figure.
The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Some of the actors playing Dorothea’s tenants deliver naturalistic and sympathetic performances, though they appear too sparingly to leave a strong impact. Others struggle with the material, slipping into melodrama or awkward theatricality. One small cameo features an Australian accent so wildly off the mark that it borders on parody – unintentional comedy that further undermines the film’s attempts at seriousness.
Tonally, Dorothea is its own worst enemy. For a story grounded in real victims and real atrocities, the film repeatedly undercuts its tension with glib comedic beats that feel completely out of place. The humour isn’t outright slapstick, but it’s persistent enough to feel disrespectful given the subject matter. If Ferrin had been adapting a fictional killer, the grimy, Street Trash-style humour might have landed. Here, it comes across as cheapening something that should have been handled with far more sensitivity.
Yet for all its flaws, Dorothea boasts genuinely impressive practical effects. Used sparingly but with impact, they are startlingly convincing – rich in texture and executed with a level of craftsmanship rarely seen in low-budget movies. The first on-screen kill is especially striking, setting early expectations that the rest of the film struggles to meet. In contrast, the production around these moments – flat lighting, limited locations, and occasionally shaky performances – makes the excellent effects stand out almost too much, highlighting the uneven quality elsewhere.
On the other hand, the film’s 1980s setting is evoked well, capturing the thrift-store aesthetic and worn, grimy textures associated with exploitation cinema. This gives Dorothea an atmospheric boost, even if the narrative doesn’t fully utilise the setting to deepen its themes or explore Puente’s psychology beyond surface-level mimicry of real events.
In the end, Dorothea is a film torn between two identities: the gritty true-crime portrait it should be and the offbeat horror-comedy it thinks it wants to be. Its dedication to real-life details is admirable, but its tonal inconsistency stops it from becoming the serious, unsettling character study the case deserves. A handful of standout effects showcase real talent behind the scenes, but as a whole, the film remains uneven, misguided, and emotionally detached.
A curious watch for fans of Ferrin’s grindhouse sensibilities, but a frustrating one for anyone hoping for a more respectful take on a truly horrifying real-world case.
**½ 2.5/5
Dorothea is out on digital platforms across the US now.
