American Mary (2012)
Directors: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska
Writers: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska
Stars: Katharine Isabelle, Antonio Cupo, Tristan Risk
American Mary tells the story of a young med student
desperate to make money. It's a relatable premise about a woman trying to make
ends meet. Mary interviews for a job as a stripper and instead ends up getting
offered $5,000 to stitch up a guy who's been badly injured. While she is
initially terrified, she performs the surgery. She returns home, horrified by
what he has done. The next day, she is offered more money by a stripper for a
body modification operation. Mary gets invited to a party that one of her professors
is having. There, she is drugged and raped. The story then turns in a different
direction when she has her rapist teacher kidnapped. She performs multiple
surgeries on him. She drops out of med school, goes into business on her own as
a body modification surgeon, and continues to hold hostage and operate on her professor.
Mary, played by Katherine Isabelle, gives a great,
confident, sarcastic and scary performance. She is often clad in black leather
and lace; think Betty Page meets Dr. Kevorkian.
However, we never really discover much about her character other than
that she has a grandmother who dies. We don't learn who she is or what she
wants, other than revenge. While the film has its moments, ultimately the story
falls short of satisfying the expectations it sets. There are several characters and scenes reminiscent
of David Lynch or The Wachowski siblings, but there's a lot of noir-ish style
and not enough substance.
- Peter Browne