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The Haunting of Molly Hartley

The Haunting of Molly Hartley isn’t bad as far as movie titles go, though it would be a lot better if the movie contained any actual haunting. It’s more like The Annoying of Molly Hartley or The Messing Around with Molly Hartley’s Mind.

At any rate, this lame, tame psychological thriller stars Haley Bennett as Molly, who has just moved with her father (Jake Weber) to a new house and new school after an unsettling incident in which Molly’s mother tried to kill her. (Oops!) Molly’s new school is a fancy prep academy for rich kids, notably Joseph Young (Chace Crawford), who is dreamy and friendly, and Alexis (Shanna Collins), who is friendly and poor. Molly is also befriended by Leah (Shannon Marie Woodward), the Bad Girl who wears fishnet stockings and smokes cigarettes in the bathroom. Joseph’s ex-girlfriend, Suzie (AnnaLynne McCord), is the requisite blond Mean Girl. The plot concerns itself primarily with Molly’s growing fears about her own sanity, and her recurring visions of her mother, who her father insists is still safely locked up and NOT appearing in Molly’s bathroom. Assertions are made about what will happen when Molly turns 18 next week; the film’s prologue, set a decade earlier, focused on another girl Molly’s age whose father didn’t want her reaching that pivotal birthday, either.

Molly’s having a crazy mother who sees evil in her daughter’s physical maturation reminds me of Carrie, and surely there’s a lot to be explored in the balance between religious belief and religious insanity. None of the characters are compelling or even particularly realistic, including Molly herself. I’ve read fortune cookies that were scarier, not to mention smarter and more interesting.

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