A Date For Mad Mary

Am I biased towards A Date For Mad Mary because like the main character, I too am a lesbian named Mary? Possibly. But regardless of that fact, this is still a really good movie.

The movie starts with Mary getting out of prison just in time to be the maid of honour at her best friend, Charlene’s wedding. However, Mary and Charlene have begun to drift apart. Hot-tempered Mary is insulted when Charlene doesn’t have her attending her wedding with a plus one, thinking Mary won’t have a date. As such, Mary goes on a bunch of dates trying to find a man as a fuck-you. Meanwhile, she forges a connection with Charlene’s wedding photographer, Jess.

Everyone involved with A Date For Mad Mary is just really good at their job, especially director Darren Thornton. He makes expert use of the medium of film and very much understands the show don’t tell rule of story telling. Thornton manages to convey a lot of information visually instead of as a dialogue exposition dump. It’s also visually pleasing to watch and exceptionally well-paced.

The film is also exceptionally well-written. There is a lot of story and good character work done in the movie’s brief 82 minute run time. Each character in this movie is well-rounded and fully-realized and that is achieved through very little. You know who these characters are and what their relationships are to each other within sentences. It’s incredibly impressive.

Rounding off the trifecta of talent, the acting in A Date for Mad Mary is spot-on, especially from lead actress Seána Kerslake. She comes across as incredibly natural and really disappears into this role. Kerslake brings so much life to the character of Mary. Her ability to change emotions on a dime and display said emotions with so little really brings this character to life.

I’m just overall charmed by A Date for Mad Mary. This is a movie with an exceeding amount of talent packed into a very tight run time without ever feeling overstuffed. This is a movie where I both cared for and related to the characters. Likewise, the queer love story was cute and enjoyable to watch. A Date for Mad Mary somehow manages to feel real while still being sweet and be sweet without being cloying. Everyone involved in this film is just exceedingly good at their respective jobs and the final result is an exceptionally well-done piece of work. A Date for Mad Mary is absolutely a WLW movie to seek out.

Overall rating: 8.6/10

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