Dragonfly Film Review: Twisted, Tense, Unexpected

Seemingly a heartwarming tale about two neighbours, Dragonfly becomes a lot more twisted and tense than you’d expect.

Her neighbour Colleen (Andrea Riseborough, of What Remains), always accompanied by her bull terrier dog, is a much younger and rather strange woman who soon befriends Elsie and offers to help her with her daily routine. But this unlikely friendship does not sit well with Elsie’s son, John (Jason Watkins, of The Phoenician Scheme), who distrusts Colleen and her dog Sabre. His involvement in Elsie and Colleen’s newly found arrangement may very well end up costing everyone more than they could have ever imagined.

With a tight focus on the two protagonists, Dragonfly heavily relies on their performances to work. Both Elsie and Colleen are often filmed alone in their respective houses or in silence as they carry out their daily routine, even when they are together. The acting is really strong from both, with an especially exceptional Andrea Riseborough, who is sweet, heartbreaking, and at times terrifying as Colleen. As the movie goes on, the camera is never afraid to linger on everyday life moments as we witness the intrinsic loneliness that defines these women’s lives. This might become repetitive and, at times, make the film feel quite long, but it is necessary to understand their intertwining and not-so-dissimilar lives. 

From the very beginning of Dragonfly, the audience can feel that something is about to happen. As heartwarming as Elsie and Colleen’s friendship is, there is clearly more to this story than simply a tale of community and neighbourly relationships. The film delivers this eerie feeling very well through the mysterious soundtrack and camerawork that seem to announce to the audience that something is about to go really wrong. However, this takes too long to happen. The first two acts feel entirely too long and only serve as a set-up for the final twist. On the contrary, the last act could have benefited from having more runtime to thoroughly explore its story.

In the last act of Dragonfly, the film’s genre and atmosphere switch completely from an everyday life movie about an elderly woman’s loneliness to a tense thriller full of twists and turns. While this is very fascinating and surprising, there is clearly a tonal disconnect between the two parts of the film, to the point that I almost felt like I was watching two completely different movies cut into one. They are admittedly both excellent films, but they do not necessarily work together. It would have also been interesting to further explore Colleen’s socio-economic background and how this might have affected her life today, but these topics are only touched on and never fully examined throughout the movie.

Overall, Dragonfly is an exciting and original film that audiences should ideally know very little about before walking in, in order to properly enjoy it. Despite its rather slow start, it does pick up in its last act, delivering an unforgettable and unexpected twist anchored by Riseborough’s excellent performance as Colleen. The movie struggles to make its two different halves work together in a cohesive way, but the genre-bending elements and breaking of conventions are the two elements that set it apart and make it such a memorable film. 

Dragonfly will be released in U.K. and Irish cinemas on 7 November, 2025.