What Happened to Dorothy Bell?

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What Happened to Dorothy Bell?

2024

1h 20m

Drama

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

86%

Tomatometer

21 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Ozzie Gray sets out to investigate disturbing revelations from her childhood and her late grandmother, Dorothy. In an attempt to communicate with her grandmother, Ozzie awakens something more malevolent than she could have ever imagined.

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Critics Consensus

A subtle, psychologically driven found footage, What Happened to Dorothy Bell? rises above genre conventions with its haunting exploration of inherited trauma and hidden family pain.

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Brian Tallerico

RogerEbert.com

09/27/2024

Meadows gives an impressively committed performance at the center of it all.

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Richard Whittaker

Austin Chronicle

09/23/2024

Character study beats out simple scales here. However, it’s the style of What Happened to Dorothy Bell? that really distinguishes it.

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Julian Singleton

Cinapse

Jul 11

An intriguing found-footage film...with a clever mind for upending genre expectations and unpacking the rich and complex emotions at its core.

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Martin Unsworth

Starburst

02/28/2025

4/5

Meadows is impressive as Ozzie, embodying the character flaws and all.

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Louisa Moore

Screen Zealots

11/09/2024

The film's exploration of how trauma is passed down through families while remaining hidden under layers of silence and misunderstanding takes it a few notches above traditional found footage and psychological horror films.

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Ygraine Hackett-Cantabrana

What a Scream Podcast

10/30/2024

3/5

...the dynamic use of the found-footage format and the exploration of family secrets and mental health male What Happened To Dorothy Bell an impressive first feature entry for director Danny Villanueva Jr.

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Taliya B

@RT66481448 Mar 26

This movie was a waste of time. It dragged on for what felt like forever, yet nothing was happening. Ozzie seemed so oblivious to even the most in-your-face supernatural stuff. It was a waste of money to rent, and I wish I could get back the 1 hour and 20 minutes I spent watching this, so I could've watched a better movie. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone.

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Stuart R

@PRAGMATICADDICT Oct 21

Overall, it was a solid, engaging, unsettling mystery throughout and the film did do a hell of a lot more and a hell of a lot better for a found-footage horror.🍅

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Danny Villanueva Jr.

Director

Asya Meadows

Actor

Michael Hargrove

Actor

Lisa Wilcox

Actor

Arlene Arnone Bibbs

Actor

Steven Alonte

Actor

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Synopsis

Ozzie Gray sets out to investigate disturbing revelations from her childhood and her late grandmother, Dorothy. In an attempt to communicate with her grandmother, Ozzie awakens something more malevolent than she could have ever imagined.

Director: Danny Villanueva Jr.
Producer: Danny Villanueva Jr.
Screenwriter: Danny Villanueva Jr.
Distributor: Uncork'd Entertainment
Production Co: How Bizarre Pictures
Genre: Drama, Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 21, 2025
Runtime: 1h 20m