Stray Dolls

A darker version of Thelma & Louise. Solid acting from the main characters. The plot is flat at some instances but finishes strong.

The story centers around two girls trying to escape the cycle of crime and poverty. The movie does a good job portraying the sense of despair. American dream is just an illusion and in some ways a trap. At times both girls appear sympathetic, but their actions are inexcusable. In the end, they dig themselves into much deeper hole out of which there's no escape.

Stray Dolls is a crime thriller that follows Riz (portrayed by Geetanjali Thapa), an Indian immigrant who comes to America to live the American Dream. She gets a job as a maid at a hotel and becomes roommates with Dallas (portrayed by Olivia DeJonge). The film then follows Riz and Dallas as they try to create a plan to get some money and leave the hotel to start off somewhere new.

This film has a lot of important elements to it. One thing I really thought was different is the film shows how immigrants are taken advantage of and used. Riz is consistently used by everyone she meets without noticing it. I also thought that Riz's character was pretty likable despite some questionable and illegal actions she takes.

However, I think the film lacks a few things. The acting by everyone other than Riz is kinda bad. The film really fails to explore another individual that Riz and Dallas come across at the hotel. And I thought the ending of the film was not great as it left unanswered questions but not in the way where it's a thought provoking.

For these reasons I would give the film a 4/10.

Stray Dolls is a taut, suspenseful and engaging thriller from rising-star director Sonejuhi Sinha. When Riz, a 20-something Indian immigrant looking to start over in the USA, arrives at the Tides Plaza Motel looking for honest work, it soon becomes clear that the American Dream isn't universally granted to everyone, and she's soon pulled back into a life of petty crime with Dallas, her volatile but determined roommate.

Sinha's careful attention to lighting, color and tone can be seen in every shot, which lends the film a sense of coldness that deepens the viewer's unease.

The desperation of its characters makes the film hum with a sense of urgency that can be unsettling in a powerful way, as it forces the viewer to examine the comforts that we take for granted by inheriting an ingrained sense of belonging in this country.

Geetanjali Thapa infuses Riz with a cynicism born of world-weariness, but it is Olivia Dejonge's Dallas who steals the show with a combustibility that is electrifying to watch. While both of them could have easily come across as familiar tropes of the naïve immigrant and damaged teenage runaway, Sinha masterfully examines these tropes by cracking them open.

We don't have many examples of female-driven, seedy crime thrillers, and it's important to recognize that even in 2020, almost thirty years after the release of Thelma & Louise, we still have very few female antiheroes whose we can feel good about rooting for even as we're watching them be bad.

I loved the ambiance and feel of this movie. The excellent direction and cinematography captured the environment not only of the seedy world of the motel but also the inner world of its characters. Hard to believe this is the director's first feature film. I look forward to seeing more from this director.