In horror, the babysitter is typically the character who protects her young ward from madmen and other dangers, but Dorothy Mills completely subverts the concept; Agnès Merlet’s 2008 film sees a disturbed sitter as the main threat to a child’s safety. This Irish chiller, however, upholds other genre traditions, including sending a city dweller to a small town where the people are ruled by their unusual customs, xenophobia and extreme faith. As the heedless outsider learns more about the infamous title character and the other residents, she quickly realizes this will not be an open-and-shut case of child abuse.
Dorothy Mills was written by Merlet and Juliette Sales, and this bleak story was originally set in Scotland before ultimately relocating to Ireland. This rural “fish out of water” mystery is in the vein of The Wicker Man, minus the folk-horror element, but there’s still something weird going on despite the film’s seemingly ordinary appearance. After news breaks of Dorothy’s crime, a Dublin-based therapist named Jane (Carice van Houten) is sent on official business to investigate the matter.
While en route to her destination, the main character was run off the road and nearly drowned. Yet when Jane states the other drivers are three teenagers, the police are baffled. In the meantime, Jane is put up in a room above the town pub where the male patrons constantly leer at her. The hostess tells her nervous guest not to mind the menfolk; she swears “they’re decent enough men at heart.” Keeping in mind this community is incredibly small and cut off from the mainland both physically and culturally, it’s no surprise the town’s inhabitants are wary and suspicious of Jane’s intentions.
As one might expect, this place is pious. Or to be more accurate, they fear the wrath of God while breaking rules when they think He’s not looking. Pretty much all matters in this area go through or are tied to the church. And representing the church is Pastor Ross (Gary Lewis), who Jane immediately visits to ask about Dorothy (Jenn Murray). Here Pastor Ross tells the doctor that people on this island “live a clean, healthy life” and are sheltered by their faith. Without saying so in so many words, this shady man of the cloth practically tells viewers something is amiss about the community. Another film would try to hide the goings-on and throw the stranger off the scent. Here Pastor Ross and his peers don’t do themselves any favors by acting so shifty around Jane.
The likes of When a Stranger Calls and Halloween show a popular representation of babysitters in the horror genre; young women risk their lives to protect someone else’s children. Less discussed are those films where sitters actively harm their clients. It’s not as if there is a shortage of these sorts of stories; The Guardian, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Emelie and The Babysitter (2017) are all prime examples. However, bad babysitters and naughty nannies go against societal expectations about women being natural caregivers and nurturers. That enduring taboo of a dangerous mother, biological or surrogate, is taken to new heights in Dorothy Mills.
Although Dorothy’s crime isn’t told in great detail, what is shown is nevertheless disturbing. Told like an urban legend, the victim’s parents recount coming home to find the new babysitter repeatedly striking their baby in the face with a bottle. Dorothy then screamed belligerently at the parents in a strange and almost demonic voice. At no point during the brief flashback is the swaddled baby’s face seen, causing the audience to imagine the worst. Making everything more complicated is Dorothy claiming to be innocent despite all the stacked evidence against her. Jane eventually comes around to Dorothy’s side after making an informal diagnosis that changes this entire case. Unfortunately, the truth doesn’t matter anymore; to this community there is something bigger at stake than Dorothy’s innocence.
Viewers will have a tough time finding conventional horror frights in Dorothy Mills, yet on more than one occasion this film stokes real fears about humans at their very worst. Namely, the lengths someone will go to to keep a terrible secret from getting out. And any attempts to scare the audience on a creative level generally happen during then newcomer Jenn Murray’s more intense and unpredictable moments as Dorothy. Her vivid performance here rightfully earned her an Irish Film & Television Academy Award.
Dorothy Mills started off as something rather simple and straightforward. Somewhere along the way, though, the film added to itself a whole other subgenre, changing not only the story’s direction but also the themes. Making sense of everything going forward then requires more energy than originally anticipated. Even so, the sudden developments and plot curveballs make for a far more intriguing, not to mention unsettling, film.
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
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