Dolores Claiborne (1995)
With Dolores Claiborne, author Stephen King returns to the feminist roots we saw in Carrie, with a tale of a mother-daughter relationship complicated by a horrifically abusive man. This adaptation is directed by Taylor Hackford, from a script by Tony Gilroy, and features Kathy Bates in the titular role. Her daughter, Selena St. George, is played by Jennifer Jason Leigh.
In the present day, Dolores Claiborne finds herself under suspicion for the murder of her employer, Vera Donovan (Judy Parfitt). Dolores worked in Vera’s mansion as her maid, but is found standing over the elderly woman with a rolling pin, after she’s tumbled down the stairs. Vera dies as a result of her fall, and Selena returns to town from New York City to support her mother’s defence. Selena doubts her mother’s innocence, though, because she suspects that Dolores killed her father. It soon transpires that the entire town believes Dolores killed Joe St. George (David Strathairn) some two decades previously, but an effective case against her was never brought.
As the new murder case unfolds, it transpires that Dolores and Vera were actually very close friends, and it was Vera that encouraged Dolores to kill Joe St. George after Dolores confided in Vera the extent of the abuse she and her daughter suffered at his hands. In addition to being physically, emotionally, and psychologically abusive to Dolores, she suspected him of molesting the young Selena. As an adult, Selena has no recollection of abuse, having repressed those events so deeply that all she experiences is depression and alcoholism. Dolores and Selena argue about the past until Selena begins to understand the truth, and returns to help her mother regain her freedom.
While this story is often regarded as something of ‘pot-boiler’ in the context of Stephen King’s wider bibliography, this is, in fact, one of his most unflinching horror tales. Focusing entirely on the evils of an oppressive man, committed against his own family, we find ourselves immersed in a nuanced exploration of the aftermath of such crimes. The story of Selena gently unfolds against the backdrop of maternal sacrifice – with Dolores remaining entrenched in a town that views her as a murderer, as her daughter moves away to live a new life. The actions of Dolores allow her daughter to essentially avoid the truth, and provide her the luxury of creating her own narrative about the past.
In the final analysis, however, while this situation allows Selena to progress from childhood to adulthood as a functioning person with a career, it proves to be the unhealthy route – her repressed pain revealing itself in addiction and mental illness. Once more, the actions of Dolores – in revealing the truth – help Selena find a way to deal with the actions of her father. It’s the quiet heroism of Dolores that enables Selena to live as a survivor.
