It could well depend on how much the thought of getting older seems in and of itself like the premise for a horror film that will determine your appreciation of “Dragonfly” when writer/director Paul Andrew Williams’ flirtations with genre could seem unnecessary to convey a sense of dread. Williams, who’s as capable of a heart tugger such as the sentimental “Unfinished Song” as ripping a heart out in bloody fashion in a vengeance tale such as “Bull” over a long, prolific career, delivers something unique with his latest, appearing at first as a kitchen sink drama with the type of actors that wouldn’t dissuade you from that notion in having Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn as neighbors in a suburban housing scheme with little more to depend on than one another, but it gradually warps into something else to unquestionably chilling effect, though when characters are pushed past the point of no return, the film itself treads the same fine line.
For a chameleon like Riseborough who seems to slide as effortlessly into fantastical scenarios as the harshest of realities, “Dragonfly” offers a unique opportunity to play in both realms when Colleen appears to live in her own world, having only a beloved dog for company as she watches TV late into the night and no job to speak of to attend to during the day. She’s 35 – Blethyn’s Elsie guesses 40 when they meet – and despite the fact the two have lived nest door to each other for some time, Colleen hasn’t felt much of a compulsion to knock on Elsie’s door, though she does take note of the various caretakers that go in and out of her house on a weekly basis, concerned by the fact that it’s never the same person and the length of time varies to a disturbing degree. With only the thinnest of walls separating their homes, Colleen doesn’t think much to handle the caretaking duties of cooking, cleaning and shopping herself, assuring Elsie that “it’ll be my ticket to heaven” when the senior doesn’t want to impose.
The arrangement has no reason not to work out well in theory, but that wouldn’t the erratic nature of the human condition into account when Elsie’s memory has started to fail her, with what’s forgotten all the more frustrating because of what she can remember, and Colleen’s eagerness to be useful would seem to stem from the same impulse of wanting to hide away from the world herself in protecting an innocent as allusions to some traumatic event in her early years find their way into conversations she has with Elsie, though she also has some less altruistic motives when she can barely afford groceries for herself. Williams is wise to see strength as much as weakness in both women’s eccentricities – Colleen’s volatility is at times what’s needed to protect the timid Elsie from being bullied and Elsie’s softness can calm down Colleen – and in fact, if left to themselves, the two could perhaps operate fine in tandem, but things are complicated by a visit from Elsie’s son John (Jason Watkins), who turns up more out of a sense of obligation than genuine affection for his mother and takes an instant dislike to Colleen and her dog.
While “Dragonfly” has the bones of a more traditional domestic drama, Williams introduces a genre feeling into the proceedings strictly with formal technique, with showy zooms and an eerily reverberant bursts of score setting up something more ominous than either of Elsie or Colleen’s deteriorating mental faculties should seem to add up to. Intentional or not, the narrative would seem to mirror its main characters who no longer have full control over themselves, but that also might be giving too much credit when there’s a slightly frustrating refusal to commit to a consistent tone, making the film’s violent end unconscionably grisly compared with what’s come before. Still, it’s undeniably nervy, keeping up Williams’ streak of choosing the far riskier and more interesting path in the stories he tells. Along with the full commitment of Blethyn and Riseborough, the genuine current of danger underscores how precarious a situation Colleen and Elsie both find themselves, with the writer/director achieving the desired discomfiting effect even if the film seems at odds with itself and if there’s a feeling of betrayal, it can’t entirely be considered unjust in relaying the plight of characters who can no longer trust their own instincts.
“Dragonfly” does not yet have U.S. distribution.