In a small town in Argentina where nothing bad ever happens, young women go missing. Because this mystery drives the film The Dollmaker, certainly the title character can’t be involved, can he?
That craftsman of creepy, DIY potato-sack dolls would be Tomás (Rodrigo Noya, Valentin), an adult virgin in unforgiving cola-bottle spectacles. He assists at the community clinic and clerks at the only video store, peculiarly Boy Scouts of America-themed. He also lives with his invalid mother — well, kind of.
Director José María Cicala (2021’s Shadow of the Cat) and co-scripter Griselda Sanchez sure do stack Tomás’ deck with weirdo cards. As if you can’t read the vibes, his house’s mailbox is marked “FAMILIA LYNCH,” yet The Dollmaker recalls as much Picket Fences and Northern Exposure as it does Twin Peaks. With so many characters introduced, most notably Sanchez as a troubled single mom and Dum-Dum-sucking diner waitress who falls for Tomás, it takes a while — too long, I’d argue — to get a bead on your surroundings.
The decoupaged opening credits suggest something out of the ordinary. Instead, The Dollmaker is average overall, albeit with above-average competence hampered by a comedic streak wobbling uncomfortably between absurdist and sitcom. Wild and wildly uneven, the movie feels like it plants a dozen mines, but forgets to trigger eight or nine of them. —Rod Lott