As we recently featured, close relationships on the big screen between mothers and daughters aren’t always the healthiest, but what happens when that daughter isn’t even real? That’s where things begin with the thriller “The Truth About Emanuel” and a new trailer for the oddball tale has dropped online.
Starring Jessica Biel and Kaya Scoledario (and you might remember the movie from its original title, “Emanuel And The Truth About Fishes“), the story centers on a troubled 17-year-old girl who babysits her new neighbor Linda’s “baby,” which is actually a very life-like doll. She goes along with the delusion while befriending the neighbor, who happens to be the spitting image of Emanuel’s late mother, and is still mourning the loss of her child (ergo, the doll substitute).
And while this is all a potentially interesting premise for a psychological drama, for our money it doesn’t quite work. As we noted in our review out of Sundance, “It’s fairly clear that Biel’s character needs to receive real psychiatric help but the film and filmmaker seem to want to indulge her in the idea that she should be allowed to live in her fantasy world. Unfortunately, as the audience, we cannot.”
“The Truth About Emanuel” hits VOD on November 26th and opens in limited release on January 10th.