Doll House Movie Review: The story of an absent father who’s a drug addict and after a sudden revelation that he has a long-lost daughter in another country, he goes off to connect with her. Ring a bell? Well, obviously yes!
This plot has been explored far more than we can imagine but each time it leaves us with something wholesome (in some at least) the keywords “Absent Parent” carries a lot of weight and it is definitely a great core to write a story around. The new Filipino Movie titled “Doll House” does exactly that. What it does bring are the CHARM and boy, does it bring on that charm.
The film stars Baron Geisler as Rustin, Althea Ruedas as Yumi, Phi Palmos as Bok, and Izah Hankammer as teenage Yumi. The film moves in ways that we can expect until the long-lost daughter meets her father and then it’s pure magic.
Rustin played by Baron starts off as her babysitter but they become instant friends and close that they’re thought of as father-daughter by people. Yumi’s mother and Rustin’s ex-wife die with her husband in an accident so Yumi lives with her uncle now.
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The film moves beautifully when we see both Yumi & Rustin conversing, it moves all too fast but it all comes to an end when his identity is revealed, finally and the ending twist is something quite unexpected which does break the fairy-tale-like story we thought it would be but I guess, the reality works in different ways and it doesn’t move around like you would expect it to.
In contrast to the ending, if that could’ve been more towards the expectation of a normal audience who want a wholesome film rather than a film that mirrors the unpredictability of life, it would’ve been quite a cherished experience for the masses but that doesn’t make this one a bad watch. It’s quite wholesome, in a different way, and does give you a sense of hope.
Final Verdict: 3/5
Doll House is available to stream on Netflix in English & Filipino.