Out of all of the messed up stories we share from generation to generation, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is high up on that list. Of course, while the horror elements are undeniable, that story has a deeper message than just people getting tricked into being cannibals because of someone else’s revenge plot. So it isn’t exactly surprising that we see a story like Sweeney Todd get revamped and revived time and time again. The most recent boom of Sweeney Todd stories brought us a hornier than ever take on the Stephen Sondheim musical and now Prime Video’s The Horror of Dolores Roach.
Dolores Roach (Justina Machado) was once the talk of her block in Washington Heights but when she is framed for running her boyfriend’s drug empire, she’s forced to serve a decades-long long prison sentence. Returning to Washington Heights means finding a completely new (and gentrified) neighborhood with only her local empanadas shop remaining. In charge is Luis (Alejandro Hernandez) the son of the original owner and someone who longs to make his shop something of importance.
As is the case with any good Sweeney Todd story, the leading man needs his Mrs. Lovett and that’s where Luis shines—the Lovett to Dolores’ Sweeney. It’s easy to look at this tale as one of cannibalism and murder but The Horror of Dolores Roach shows audiences the humanity that this murderous character has in her own quest for justice and how the system has failed her over and over again.
Unfortunately, much how Sweeney Todd (my favorite musical) put me off meat pies forever, The Horror of Dolores Roach has made me side-eye my beloved empanadas since watching the show because when Dolores starts to murder, the boom in sales that Luis was looking for happens only after he finds his new specialty: human meat.
Dolores is waiting.
The Horror of Dolores Roach is not a direct carbon copy adaptation of Sweeney Todd. But the show really highlights just how good this cautionary tale is and how, when done right, it stops and makes audiences think about the monster killing for the meat supply.
The series works because of Machado’s humanity that she brings to Dolores paired well with Hernandez’s unhinged giddiness about the situation as a whole. With source material like Sweeney Todd, it is easy to make a mockery of the story as a whole but The Horror of Dolores Roach brings to life the aspects of Sweeney and Lovett’s relationship and their place in society with a modern setting that serves as more of a commentary on the system and oppression than a focus on Dolores’ murderous ways.
It will leave you questioning whether or not you want to eat an empanada any time soon but also probably craving one, along with more of Dolores’ story. If you can’t handle what Luis is cooking in the kitchen though, it might be time to dive into Dolores’ tale of woe on an empty stomach.
(featured image: Prime Video)
