Dorothea (2025) Film Review – Landlady From Hell

Posted on by Jim Cox

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Dorothea is a 2025 true crime thriller written and directed by Chad Ferrin. Best known for his recent flurry of horror thrillers, Chad is notable for creating Pig Killer (2022), Scalper (2024), and the recently released Ed Kemper (2025).

As she lies dying in prison, notorious serial killer Dorothea Puente spills her grotesque secrets, unraveling the story of how a life shaped by abuse, betrayal, and manipulation turned her boarding house into a graveyard.

Based on the Sacramento serial killer Dorothea Puente, also known as the “Death House Landlady”, who, throughout the 1980s, murdered various elderly and mentally disabled boarders in the boarding house she ran in Sacramento, California. Ultimately, Dorathea killed nine of her residents before her arrest on November 16, 1988. However, she was only convicted of three of these murders, with the jury remaining deadlocked over the other six after 35 days of deliberating, receiving a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Poised as a deathbed confession to another prisoner, Dorothea explores the life (and murders) through a blend of inner-monologue narration and direct-forth-wall breaking, addressing the audience directly as a means to strengthen its mise en abyme story. Delivering a fairly faithful retelling of the actual events that took place, Dorothea’s troubled home life with her several husbands, her numerous brushes with the law preceding the murders, and the means of dispatching and hiding her victims all follow the well-documented case meticulously. Nevertheless, that isn’t to say the film doesn’t take the odd artistic liberty occasionally, such as the murder of Ismael Carrasco Florez (a witness in the murder trial) during a robbery. Despite these slight discrepancies and sensationalizations, the film remains a fairly accurate representation of the landlady’s heinous crimes. 

Despite these graphic scenes of murder being a prevalent part of the narrative, the film takes a more restrained approach to this element. While true crime thrillers often sensationalise the more graphic scenes of rape, torture, and murder featured in their runtime, Dorothea implements depiction of her murders as less is more–working well for the overall lighter tone of the narrative. That isn’t to say that the film is devoid of these scenes, with a handful of instances of some impressive practical special effects utilised to great effect. 

With cinematography provided by Jeff Billings, who has worked on several of Chad’s previous films, including H. P. Lovecraft’s The Old Ones (2024) and Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep (2024), the film’s visuals are modern and sleek throughout. Implementing fantastic establishing shots, expert manipulation of depth of field, effective use of fourth-wall breaks, and unique use of a split-screen shot, Dorothea’s visuals are phenomenal from start to finish. Furthermore, the film features the use of real news footage from a report on the murders, including footage of Dorothea Puente herself, serving as a strong anchor to the real-life crimes the film portrays.

Featuring an outstanding performance from the entire cast, Dorothea features a plethora of memorable performances from those involved. From the elderly and disabled tenants to the unwitting handymen accomplices, each actor does a fantastic job with their role. Yet, the strongest performance comes from a familiar face in Chad’s films, Susan Priver, who delivers the film’s driving force with a headstrong, cunning interpretation of the deceitful landlady. Her playful interaction through the fourth wall breaks, unyielding tenacity, and highly animated acting provide one of her best performances yet.

A compelling look into the life and crimes of one of California’s most notorious serial killers, Dorothea is a stylish and engaging character study that adopts a lighter tone toward its criminal elements to create a captivating true crime thriller with outstanding performances, an engaging story, and elegant cinematography.

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Dorothea (2025) will premiere at this year’s Valley Film Festival in September.

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