We start off in the present with Dolores Claiborne struggling with her elderly and infirm employer at the top of the stairs in her house in Maine, where she's live-in carer and has been for over 20 years. Vera Donovan is the employer and she ends up tumbling down the stairs. Next, we see Dolores raking through the implements in the kitchen to apparently find something to cosh her with and finish her off. In comes the mailman and catches Dolores, over the body, rolling-pin in hand, about to deliver the final blow. She doesn't. The viewer knows. But the old woman dies right there, anyway, from her injuries.
Dolores is a known local character in this small town where everyone has lived forever and know each other well. The exception to the rule of people staying in the town is Dolores' daughter, Selina, who we now join in her office in New York working as a journalist/writer. She receives a fax (told you it was dated) telling her that her mother, who she's had nothing to do with for 15 years, has been taken to the police station, suspected of murdering her employer. Selina races to the scene, hooks up with mother, who the local police release to go (to her unlived-in, neglected) home with daughter while they process the 'crime' scene and build their case.
Both of these women are clearly hardened by the knocks of challenging lives and this comes across from both of them as they deal with anyone around them. Selina with more caution and social awareness than Dolores, but it's clear that they are both life-damaged in various ways, which come out later in our story. Which brings us to various flashbacks as we find out about the situation earlier in life when Selina was 13 and her dad was still alive, living in the house, and generally being verbally and physically abusive (watch out for the first one as it's shocking) to Dolores at every irritated opportunity - whilst apparently sharing warmth and kindness to Selina.
Dolores is pushed too far one day and returns some of the abuse, putting him in his place. He's also a bit of a drunk, which makes matters worse for the others. As we skip back to the present, it becomes clear that dad had died back in the day and Dolores was suspected of killing him, which most of the townsfolk remember. Although she was cleared of charges, the incident declared an accident, they keep a distance because of the suspicions, making her even more reclusive and bitter. Selina storms off around this time, not to be seen until the present. It's clear that there's unresolved issues between mother and daughter which are eventually shared with us, along with details of the incidents.
Jennifer Jason Leigh (Single White Female, Fargo) and Kathy Bates (Diabolique, Titanic) play the two roles perfectly. I think that Bates is wonderful in Misery (1990) but this stretches her further and she plays it beautifully. I loved Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight (2015) but again, this role stretches her in a different way and she responds admirably. Director Taylor Hackford brings out the best in both of them turning this unusual Stephen King story (not supernatural but focusing on the stuff people do to each other), whilst creating chills and thrills in different ways, including smart use of camerawork, colours and focus throughout.
In amongst all this we have Christopher Plummer playing the local copper, determined to prove that Dolores has done the deed, still angry that she 'got away with' blame for the death of her husband years ago. He felt he 'missed out' on a conviction back then, maring his perfect record of 85 other closures. He believed, and still does, that she did it, can't prove it, but is out to make amends. He plays it very nicely, too - a far cry from Captain Von Trapp! Judy Parfitt (Girl with a Pearl Earring) is horribly annoying as Vera the monied, stuck-up employer (mostly via flashbacks) and David Strathairn (L.A. Confidential, Lincoln), chilling and sinister as Dolores' husband. These are the main roles, but the rest of the cast add to the great storytelling and dark, grizzled atmosphere, as it unfolds.
It's also a story about how men in positions of power, particularly in small-town America back in the day, had been free to exercise destruction over women, who end up feeling powerless to change the imbalance. This is highlighted clearly in a scene at the bank and the attitudes of the police officer in charge. It's sad, shocking and moving in equal measure as the viewer gets more absorbed and behind the truth of what's happened. It's beautifully shot and produced, so highly recommended.
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