Saturday, November 14, 2020

AMERICAN MARY (2012)

 

(Directors/screenwriters: Jen and Sylvia Soska, a.k.a. The Soska Sisters)

Storyline

An opportunity for easy money tempts a medical student, Mary, Mason, to enter the world of underground surgeries, one that alters her more than she expects.


Review

Jen and Sylvia Soska's (a.k.a.The Soska Sisters) first feature film is an above-average, often gory and mostly well-paced film about poverty, systemic sexism, rape, alienation, and one woman’s character-paced path to redemption. Katharine Isabelle (best known for the GINGER SNAPS trilogy) is excellent as Mary Mason, a desperate woman who learns to embrace her beyond-normal-bounds darkness while pursuing revenge and a reputation as a body modification surgeon with equal vigor. Isabelle’s top-notch acting is ably supported by other above-average actors as well, including Tristan Risk as Beatrice (a woman with strange “plastic” Barbie Doll features) and Antonio Cupo as Billy Barker, a strip club owner who’s falling in love with Mary, aiding her underground endeavors.

Those looking for a happy finish might be disappointed, but it keeps with the tone and arc of Mary’s bleakward spiral. AMERICAN, with its strong feminist theme and characters, is worth watching, an excellent first feature by the Soskas, who appear in the film as creepy twins who want surgery to bring them closer together.

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