MovieChat Forums > American Mary (2013) Discussion > Why I couldn't enjoy this mess of a film

Why I couldn't enjoy this mess of a film

posted 12 years ago by horrorfreak489
77 replies | jump to latest

The first 40 minutes of the film were excellent. It was basically a character piece and we were following around a desperate character who was unsure what she was doing, but was heavily motivated by getting money because she was broke. She was a likable character who was sarcastic but still cool. Once she gets date raped by her professor, the character of Mary does a COMPLETELE 180. The film DRASTICALLY changed from here on out. After getting date raped, she decides to torture him and tells him shes changing specialties and going into body modification. She does jobs out of her apartment, has a security guard and decides to closely work with the guy from the club.

Did I miss something? Where the hell did all this suddenly come from? This film just did a complete 180. She only did two jobs before and after both times she was pretty freaked out and taken back by it because they were so strange. To have the character drastically change from normal to psycho in a minute like that just doesn't make any sense. I am all for twists, but this just came across as completely random. I felt like I was watching a totally different film. Mary in the first 40 minutes of the film is drastically different from Mary in the remainder of the film. There is no transition.

The rest of the film was all over the place. I had no idea what was going on because the character of Mary just seemed to be all over the place. She goes back to helping out Beatress, then to hanging out at the club and becomes closer with Billy and develops feelings for him out of nowhere. I just didn't know what was going on or what to follow.

[–] agro_sydney 11 years ago

I was expecting so much more. Great premise for a horror film or thriller but it lost its way. Needed more scares. It ended more as an arthouse film.

[–] tehponcho 11 years ago

I agree, I really wanted to like this film. The concept was great but the performance not so much. A lot of characters were so cliché (like the dude from the club) and also ridiculous, the reasoning behind the body modifications were not convincing at all (saying you want to be like a doll because no one would want to have sex with it? Actually a lot of dudes are into dolls...).

And basically it seems like there were a bunch of good ideas that were just thrown away during the film because the script writer had no idea how to actually continue it. The ending had no point whatsoever for example.
Mary getting killed by the boyfriend of the "doll" was just so deus ex machina, he had almost nothing to do with the plot, it was like someone was looking for a reason to end this film. It wasn't even karma really, just a jealous angry boyfriend

[–] TheDarkContinent00 11 years ago

Completetly agree OP, it had potential then it fell flat...

[–] kjamespatrick 11 years ago

Completely agree. But there`s a couple more moments that truly irk me.

Firstly - the relationship between Mary and her Instructor begins with a decent establishment, she`s smart and he wants her to be the best - simple, effective. He calls her and reems her out when she misses one lecture after she promises to dedicate herself to the education. The source of Mary`s flaunted new wealth is questioned repeatedly and the instructor suspects she`s an escort, so he invites her to a party where surgeons have sex on mass with escorts.. we know this because the very first thing we see in the room is a girl being given a large amount of money and being lead away - this justifies how surprised and excited the surgeons are because they have a desirable intern who they suspect is also available for purchase. The instructor is clearly let down by her actions and choses to punish her in a way he feels is suiting.. IF SHE ACTUALLY WAS AN ESCORT (note: I`m not saying it`s right, I`m saying to the character this would be suitable). He clearly feels betrayed that she will turn to sex and money over her education because he says "Your actions betray your words" - remember he even WAKES UP NEXT TO HER not exactly your standard rape situation. For this to be her whole motivation is just disgusting film making.

[–] openstorage 10 years ago

Totally agree. I would say right up to the 48 minute mark I loved this film, then they started herding in the corny body mod sheeple - who could barely act - and it turned to absolute drivel.

[–] TerrorDementia 10 years ago

"The first 40 minutes of the film were excellent."

100% agree. This film turned into a massive piece of crap after that.

[–] jessicacopeland39 10 years ago

I saw this movie about two weeks ago in Netflicks. The professor noticed her increase in wealth and though she moonlighted as a high price price hooker to pay for school and thought he could do whatever he wanted to her.

[–] mrs-a-hoffman 10 years ago

That is exactly the point...the doctors noticed her increase in wealth and thought she was a call girl. That being said, they thought they would be able to get away with doing whatever they wanted to her and she wouldn't tell because of her "profession." They don't discover that they were wrong about her until AFTER she quits med school.

However, small plot hole in that it was a little odd that she didn't notice that not only was she the only student invited to the party, but that she was the only FEMALE at the party. Nor did she think it odd the way everyone kept trying to pump drinks into her. So I did find that a bit problematic, as I most likely would have looked around, noticed I was the only female, and made an excuse to leave, but then...we wouldn't have the impetus for the film.

Her transformation from eager to please student into the ice queen she becomes occurs as a result of the rape and the idea that they would get away with what they had done to her. Since it would be her word against serious doctors, she did not feel justice would be served, so, as many who have been through a traumatic event do, she hardened her heart. The work on the people who wanted to transform their bodies is in a sense, "cutting," which is what she really becomes addicted to...the cutting. Notice the scenes with Billy in which she asks if there is anyone she can hurt for him.

I will say that I enjoyed the movie, but the ending fell flat. It seemed like the directors didn't know what to do with Mary by the end and just ***spoiler alert*** killed her off unceremoniously. It seemed trite that she would survive much worse in her life (the rape) and fall victim to an angry boyfriend. Where was her body guard? How did he manage to get into the house without showing any signs of a break in? These were a few of the things that ruined the end of the movie for me, but the first half was great.

[–] honeymoonavenue 10 years ago

Although I did enjoy the film, I agree with your statements. The film was really captivating and fresh up until the dinner party. Then the pacing and plot started to get messy and hard to keep up with. The film had lots of potential to be really great, but it ended up being decently average.