‘Dot Conner’: Scripture Sleuths From School

A young ‘webtective’ solves a family mystery.

Dot (Gili Gould) is a webtective, in “Dot Connor.” Huff Media Productions/Pangea Pictures

PG | 1h 25m | Drama | 2025

Can faith-based films be fun? Screenwriter-director Andrew Huff’s “Dot Conner: Webtective” tries to answer that question by packing in mystery, comedy, and drama and building on buzz around his eponymous streaming show for pre-teens.

Dot (Gili Gould) is a precocious, teenaged Internet sleuth (or “webtective”). The audience doubles as her offscreen social media followers, fellow webtectives to her. But her sleuthing, usually limited to unraveling solutions to everyday challenges by cracking biblical code, is about to expand in ways that may endanger her.

(L–R) Isaac Watson (Owen Osborne), Dot Connor (Gili Gould), and Pamela Mondy (Scarlett Bella Song), in “Dot Connor.” Huff Media Productions/Pangea Pictures

On the eve of her first day of high school, Dot and her buddies, Makayla Williams (Lauryn McCardell) and Alex Murray (Ethan Pogue), pursue a cryptic clue sent by her Dad, Grant (ex-Navy pilot Drew Waters, also producer), from his phone.

A covert intel operative, Grant is now without his phone, and held hostage by Russian hoodlums in a secret location. At home, Dot’s mom, Millie (Jae Huff, also producer and Andrew’s wife) and Dot’s grandma Lulu (Janet Decker) are unaware of the danger. Dot’s archnemesis from middle school Pamela Mondy (Scarlett Bella Song) isn’t about to make things any easier for her.

As Dot and her buddies start a geocaching-type hunt for her dad, clues from this fun (and frantic) pursuit keep leading her back to the Bible. Are they telling her that faith can guide and comfort her even when she can’t see one step ahead?

Fast-talking, blonde, blue-eyed Gould happens to be a straight-A Honors level school student who plans to attend Rice University in the fall of 2025. She believes the film offers “Good clean fun, the whole family will enjoy,” and “for a change” some edifying role models for children.

The Huffs take a risk in presuming openness in audiences. The movie isn’t for cynical, know-it-all young viewers, but perfect for those planning to attend or are already attending Sunday school. It’s for those sincere about cultivating a habit of looking to the Bible for everyday guidance. It’s for those learning to find the right guidance; it’s for seeing familiar passages, protagonists, and parables with humbler, more student-like eyes.

Dot (Gili Gould) and Alex Murray (Ethan Pogue) on the road to solving a mystery, in “Dot Connor.” Huff Media Productions/Pangea Pictures

For instance, when dealing with a sense of powerlessness, can Dot think of biblical characters who were worse off, but didn’t flinch from their faith or hope? Grandma Lulu suggests the character of Job. And Dot connects. When things don’t go her way, rather than complain can she draw cheer from the fact God is ultimately in charge even if things seem chaotic or catastrophic? Godly feelings are warm and fuzzy when things go well. What happens when they don’t?

America’s Young-Detective Genre

In spinning their yarn around a high school detective, the Huffs follow a pioneering American pop culture tradition of young-detective stories. As far back as the 1920s, American publisher-writer Edward Stratemeyer led the world’s publishing foray into this genre with his wildly successful “Hardy Boys” and “Nancy Drew” teen novels that boasted a global reader base for decades. Here, the Huffs seem to pay him homage. Guess the name of Dot’s school? Stratemeyer High School.

Stratemeyer’s American innovations inspired British ones. Enid Blyton’s subsequently successful “Famous Five” and “Secret Seven” novels in the 1940s targeted preteen readers. Together, these obviously Christian protagonists didn’t flaunt explicit religious beliefs. Instead, they breathed a childlike moral code. But in their amateurish simplicity lay abilities to spot right from wrong, and good from bad. Naturally, their sleuthing stayed shorn of adult-like legalese around the lawful and unlawful.

The Huffs deliver faith messages lightly, dwelling instead on Dot’s adventurousness. Reassuringly for parents, Dot slips in tips about safe social media and Internet use, warning her webtectives. Users should access links or messages only from known and trusted sources; use SafeSearch by default, so browsers filter out explicit content.

Jae Huff plays Dot's mom in the film, on the set of “Dot Connor.” Huff Media Productions/Pangea Pictures

Watch for animation clips that liven up the narrative. There is a middle-aged jogger who outruns electric kick-scooters, a surprising cameo by John Rhys-Davies, and a cheeky explanation of the acronym STEEL.

The exciting opening credits feature mundane math symbols typical in preteen classes: the “+” sign and longitude-latitude decimals. As Kenji Standlee’s and Adrian Disch’s catchy tunes reach a crescendo, a twist, the passive “+” enlarges to form a purposeful cross in a church.

Few filmmakers would dare have their “Thanks for watching!” phrase pop up in the sixth minute of a film lasting over 60 minutes. Huff does, and prophetically so. It’s as if he’s hinting that God’s wisdom inverts earthly wisdom.

Powerlessness only seems like an end, but with eyes of faith, it may be a new beginning, a kind of resurrection.

You can watch “Dot Conner” in theaters from Sept. 19, 2025. 

‘Dot Conner’ Director: Andrew Huff Starring: Gili Gould MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes Release Date: Sept. 19, 2025 Rated: 3 stars out of 5

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