Vera icon Brenda Blethyn reveals acclaimed new film Dragonfly makes viewers question their judgement

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The new movie, Dragonfly, which came out last Friday, November 7th, is getting fantastic reviews. Critics are especially praising the performances of Brenda Blethyn and Andrea Riseborough, both of whom have received award nominations.

The story centers on Elsie, a solitary and fragile elderly woman, who forms an unlikely friendship with her neighbor, Colleen, after Colleen kindly offers to help her out.

Jason Watkins plays Elsie’s son, and he’s wary of her new friendship with Colleen. He’s already made assumptions about Colleen and doesn’t think she’s a good influence.

She also appreciated how the script made you form opinions about the characters, and then wonder if those opinions were right.

I believe everyone has something positive about them, or you could always find a reason to criticize them – it often just comes down to the situation they’re in. What really stood out to me was the unexpected twist at the end – the shock of something ordinary happening in a surprising way. I thought it was incredibly well done.

While Dragonfly is primarily a social realism story, it becomes much darker towards the end, building to the surprising and unsettling climax that Blethyn refers to.

The show’s change in atmosphere has made some viewers think of it as a thriller or horror story. But what does the lead actress, Brenda Blethyn, actually think about that?

You know, the movie definitely gets into some really difficult situations. It’s important to say right away that nothing justifies what happens, but it stems from this unexpected friendship. It’s about an older woman and a young woman who feels like an outsider, and how their connection unfolds – and gets complicated. It starts so normally, but things just…escalate.

It’s really interesting watching them – they’ve become so close and seem to genuinely enjoy being around each other. It feels almost like a budding romance! But just when you think things are going well, something unexpected happens and completely changes everything. It’s like all the progress gets undone.

Director Paul Andrew Williams said he doesn’t think of his film as strictly horror or belonging to any specific genre. He simply focused on telling a compelling story.

He went on to say that viewers can decide for themselves whether something is scary or not. As [Blethyn] pointed out, it’s unpleasant to look at, even disturbing, but whether it qualifies as true horror is debatable. He admitted it’s certainly horrific.

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2025-11-10 21:04