Director: Vilan Trub
Year: 2026
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Killer Dolls
Plot:
Moving into a new house, a man finds a new doll on the property and decides to keep it, only to shortly afterward start imagining something is wrong with the doll as he slowly discovers its origins in a part of the Nazi regime from WW II, forcing him to figure out the truth before it’s too late.
Review:
Overall, this was a fine if somewhat flawed psychological genre effort. Among the better factors here is the rather strong and generally likable setup that makes this one come off better than expected while trying to deal with the issues caused by the doll. The wholly repeated yet no less effective starting point of the family moving into the new house and being able to come across the doll on the property that starts to take over the personality of those it comes into contact with, forcing one of them to try figuring out the cause of everything happening around him in a familiar enough setup that allows this some fun moments here. The fact that it starts to control the wife instead of him or his kids is a novel enough touch, instigating a series of unnatural behavioral shifts where she doesn't include him in anything, wants to be left alone to deal with herself, and takes an interest in specific topics that she didn't enjoy before.
Him trying to get to the bottom of that behavior is what spurs the second half of this one, as the influence starts to take over the family as a whole. The idea of trying to research the doll and its history allows him to uncover the Nazi connection and where it came from, potentially giving this the necessary intervention to be the cause of the stress around the family as his wife's sudden mood shifts and behavior changes bring up the need to be much more involved in the Nazi connections of the doll to sort everything out. There are some intriguing aspects here in trying to sort through the detailed history and how it's starting to affect the two of them, not just with her rapid personality changes but his single-minded obsession to figure out the source of the doll's power and stop it from controlling her and the rest of his family, providing this with some worthwhile factors.
However, there are some issues here that hold it back. Among the main issues here is the general lack of action in what's going on, making this driven so much by dialogue that hardly anything happens here once the doll is involved in things. The idea of the influence here taking the form of behavior changes, mood swings, and less overt means gives this the kind of approach where it feels like nothing is happening for long stretches, as everyone just stands around arguing over what’s going on and whether the doll is actually responsible. This makes the film feel far longer than it actually does without the doll actually doing anything, remaining lifeless and inert when most others are going to want to see it going around doing things and leaving everything to the desperation to prove their point instead of capitalizing on the idea of the doll running loose. Combined with the obvious low-budget nature here, these all manage to bring this one down overall.
Overview: ***/5
A generally solid if somewhat flawed psychological killer doll effort, there are some worthwhile factors here to keep this one intriguing, yet it ends up being brought down by a pretty big factor overall. Those with an interest in this kind of genre fare, who don’t mind these kinds of issues, or who are curious about it will want to give it a shot, while most others out there should heed caution.
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