A young girl Sofia (Liz Dieppa) is invited to an interview for the position of nanny in a luxurious house located in an elite guarded quarter, under the protection of her older sister Natalia (Alejandra Rodriguez), who has been working there as a servant for many years. The owners of the house are a wealthy Mexican family: the head of the Rodrigo family (Octavio Inojosa), his wife Patricia (Rocio Garcia) and their children are a bully boy Gabriel (Eric Israel Consuelo), little Cecilia (Valeri Sais) and Bruno's baby sucking a nipple peacefully. Sofia is taken immediately, because Natalia has a good account with the owners, and the girl immediately begins her duties. However, Sophie’s past follows her on his heels, and after her in the mansion there is an unpleasant essence that has a supernatural nature and a strange name – Mormo.
Actors and roles
The owners-spouses Rodrigo and Patricia, who have very little screen time, still manage to fully reveal their characters to the viewer: Octavio Inojosa plays his father, a businessman who has no time left to devote to his family. Rosio Garcia plays the role of a mother – she is a standard wife of a businessman, shaking blond hair and thinking mostly about fitness.
Alejandra Rodriguez, who embodied the image of Natalia, appeared in a big movie only once - she played some role (which one does not even want to understand) in the Mexican adaptation of the Russian bottom called Bitter! But “Doll” is not “Bitter!”: for all the jaded plot zagogulins, when viewing it, there is no desire to call Ichthiander. Therefore, Rodriguez herself does not cause internal rejection.
Eric Consuelo and Valerie Sais, who play children, are also good: the girl immediately has a childlike disposition towards herself, and the boy reveals himself in the course of the play, transforming himself, and turning from a harmful slander into a subject valuable to society.
But the main gem of horror is Liz Dieppa, the same Sofia. Her emotions shine brightly from the screen, overshadowing the others. A modest girl, who first came from the hinterland to the big city, looks clean and innocent, but according to the law of the genre, her youth was difficult, and her childhood was difficult. She has to face the fears of childhood and try to overcome them.
The director
The director of “The Doll” (the original name of “Juega Conmigo”, which can be translated from Spanish as “Play with me”) is Adrian García Boliano, a person who is completely unknown to me because I watched a Mexican movie for the first time in my life. However, it is rumored that Boliano is an experienced director who has shot more than a dozen horror films. Well, this is noticeable - on a blood-battered base, he managed to build a logical, gradually unfolding story. Yes, the film contains all the attributes of horror: from slamming doors and scary dolls to missing toys and sudden screamers, but all this is competently built into the narrative and does not annoy.
Result
“Doll” is a good horror with interesting content, almost completely devoid of visual effects, and more focused on psychology, which is quite good. Connoisseurs of the genre, this film is hardly able to surprise, since the creators lack the courage to let go of the reins and break away completely, but he still holds the brand, being a worthy competitor to American horror films of recent years. And in some places he completely bypasses his brethren on the turns.
7 out of 10