Rating: 3/5
Jamie, an adult woman, lives with her mother and still gets toys yearly from her estranged father. As a result, she develops an unhealthy fixation on toys as her one connection to her father
Her mother catches her masturbating with one of the toys and kicks her out of the house. She moves into the city, gets a job at a toy store, and marries one of her coworkers, who only learns of her toy obsession when she won’t go to bed on their wedding night without one of them
This is only the first 10 minutes of what ends up being a troubling and complex exploration of abandonment and neglect and the lessons kids learn to survive abusive childhoods
On the surface, the mediocre acting, awkward dialogue, and cheap film stock make the film feel like just another exploitation film. And it is an exploitation film committed to being lurid and controversial — I don’t think it handles any of its subject matter tastefully — yet it manages to find moments that feel authentic
The movie effectively uses nonlinear flashbacks and juxtaposition to show Jamie’s thought process and unfold the repressed person that still idolizes her father. It’s not subtle, but it evokes genuine emotion and builds the tension
Marcia Forbes is well-cast as the adult yet childlike Jamie, who always feels like a child when onscreen. This movie is her only role before retiring from acting, and I can’t say I blame her
Overall, it’s a pretty fucked up movie with broken characters and no happy endings in mind — maybe one of the most upsetting endings I’ve seen. It’s just surprisingly successful filmmaking for a roughie