Molly is a Russian girl who gets relocated to America with her family in the middle of the Cold War. Bullied at school for her 'strange' clothes and 'weird' accent, it's only when her mother designs a special Soviet doll for her for a Thanksgiving class project that she starts to make friends.
This Academy Award-winning short could really have been expanded to feature length status, as the solution to all Molly's problems is achieved far too quickly for my liking. Sophia Eliazova is excellent as the put-upon heroine, and the kids playing her school 'mates' also do a reasonable job, but you can't help feeling, with a bit more fleshing out of the intriguing premise we could've had something special here.
Instead, we have a bit of name-calling (led by the typical blonde female bully of course) easily rectified by unconcerned parents and an 'inspiring' speech by a teacher which solves everything. A nice message and moral no doubt, but enough to solve all Molly's problems? Doubtful. More realism, less fantasy next time, please. 5/10.
This Academy Award-winning short could really have been expanded to feature length status, as the solution to all Molly's problems is achieved far too quickly for my liking. Sophia Eliazova is excellent as the put-upon heroine, and the kids playing her school 'mates' also do a reasonable job, but you can't help feeling, with a bit more fleshing out of the intriguing premise we could've had something special here.
Instead, we have a bit of name-calling (led by the typical blonde female bully of course) easily rectified by unconcerned parents and an 'inspiring' speech by a teacher which solves everything. A nice message and moral no doubt, but enough to solve all Molly's problems? Doubtful. More realism, less fantasy next time, please. 5/10.
