Danny Villanueva Jr. hooks you from the start with a plunge into the past, courtesy of an old VHS tape. A yellow tinged, glitchy image that starts with a rather sweet depiction of a daddy/daughter relationship, and then veers into a truly unsettling game of hide and seek between this child and something that seems to be assuming the form of her grandmother. Years later and Ozzie Gray (Asya Meadows) is dealing not only with a fragmented memory of the past, but actively seeking to uncover the trauma connected to it, and piece together the memories of a childhood that is increasingly tinged with mystery. Her Grandmother, the titular Dorothy Bell, was a seminal figure in her upbringing. Her disappearance several years earlier has never been solved, and might be key to many of the answers they seek. An aspiring videographer, Ozzie sets out with their camera to document her investigation and healing by chronicling her own therapy sessions. In interviews with townspeople, local news clippings, and online blogs, they gain a growing awareness of a local folklore that has build up around Dorothy implicating her as a witch, exposure to such practices as a child might explain the memory loss and trauma that plagues Ozzie into adulthood.
Ozzie is a wounded soul, with Meadows performing with not only a scar on their face, but a clear conveyance of internalized pain. The film authentically leans into a process of resolving trauma, largely through a investigative effort to dig into the past. Ozzie moves back into the family home, hoping relics of the past trigger recollection. They visit Dorothy’s old place of work, the town library, and interview her old coworkers. A study of home videos for clues shows their Grandma’s progression of cognitive decline, and also a growing void between Ozzie and their father. The pair that we see so close in that old footage at the start of the film are now are so clearly estranged. Events in Ozzie’s past have driven a wedge between them. A subtly worked in element of gender identity could in itself be a clue toward answering this, and some of the issues Ozzie reckons with.
Meadows delivers nuanced work as they reckon with their internalized issues, notably in Zoom sessions with a therapist, Dr. Robin Connelly (Lisa Wilcox). Scenes that are later harnessed to deliver some cracking (no pun intended) horror. The real strength in this regard are these old home videos. Grainy glimpses into something of a netherworld, all of it is so incisively staged and potently executed. By comparison, the footage in modern day feels somewhat sanitized, lacking both the ominous look and feel of the dated footage. It’s not as simple as grain or color grading, its just rather hokey and less considered fare. This is most apparent in the final act where the film fails to deliver the cathartic denouement of it’s themes, instead veering into something more generic. The trauma is set aside for a rather generic battle with evil. t’s a shame as the idea of entwinning a family secret entwinned with local folklore is a great way to approach both the past and the present, using the medium of found footage. Despite this, there are impressive elements within What Happened to Dorothy Bell?, certainly enough to suggest Villanueva has a hell of an eye, and some legit horror chops .
