The Last Thing Mary Saw

I’m predisposed to like this movie. The Last Thing Mary Saw is an atmospheric horror tragedy. It seems clearly inspired by the era of horror A24 ushered in. I love A24 and the current era of slow, tragic horror. Also, my name is Mary. This film literally has my name written all over it.

The Last Thing Mary Saw takes place in 1843. Young Mary frequently engages in “unnatural acts” with housemaid Eleanor. Mary’s disregard for scripture and engagement in sinful activities has consequences for both her and Eleanor. Of course, the punishments for maid Eleanor are always more severe. When Mary’s extended family comes to visit, these punishments grow more intense as does the scrutiny on her activities. Mary and Eleanor try their best to find secret moments to be together with limited success. The constant abuse causes Eleanor to be drawn in to a plot to harm the family. But the forces of horror go beyond those which are man made. An evil force has come to roost in Mary’s home.

There are two paths towards horror the film takes. The first is the abuse and injury done in the name of religion or simply wealth. The second is the genuinely supernatural elements of evil. The strongest and more focused on of the two is the first one. There’s not nearly as much witchcraft and curses in the film as there are scenes of Mary and Eleanor kneeling in rice reciting scripture. For the most part, I like this. I like a focus on the horror that people could and have done to each other. The punishments Eleanor and Mary face are based in historical truth. It’s devastating to see how they dehumanize Eleanor specifically. And more broadly, it’s tragic and horrific to see what acts of violence are done in the name of faith.

While I do think the supernatural element added to the film, I wished for a bit more. It is so minimal you probably could cut it entirely and have the same story remain. It’s also not often used for true moments of horror. There’s an ambiguity towards the motives of the evil force that I mostly like. But the film might’ve hit harder if this supernatural evil and the human religious abuse were tied closer together. We get a bit of that. But I would’ve liked to see more about how this evil force finds purchase among those already willing to do harm in the name of God. The Last Thing Mary Saw has a bleak view of religion. For Mary and Eleanor, heaven might as well be hell. It is God who is responsible for much of their suffering. This additional force of evil is almost surplus to requirement.

Horror fans expecting a lot of scares of gore will likely not enjoy this film. The Last Thing Mary Saw is tragedy before it is a horror story. So, it’s also not a good one to watch if you want your lesbian films to have a happy ending. For me, the focus on tragedy and drama really works. It roots the story in something real. It’s easy to identify and sympathize with the main characters. Also, despite not being a spectacle of terror, this somewhat minimal film remains gripping and well-paced. One notable scene involves almost no dialogue as most characters are mute for various reasons. This scene maintains interest and tension even without dialogue. The Last Thing Mary Saw feels almost literary. The pacing and character focus would lend as well if not better to a novel than a film.

My main issue is that character motivation lacks clarity. There are a few characters who wish to do great harm to Mary’s family and the reason is never fully explain. It’s often hard to tell if characters hurt others because they’re terrible or because the people they’re hurting are terrible. It’s good to have a level of ambiguity around the motives of an evil force. But there’s also ambiguity around the human elements. And I would’ve liked a bit more explanation on why the evil force hated this family specifically. The last act of the film hurtles too quickly towards its tragic body count to stop and flesh out this story. And that’s a shame because this is clearly a horror film with a decently well thought out story. More exploration would’ve strengthened the narrative rather than find the weak points.

The Last Thing Mary Saw has a lot on common with Emily Harris’s recent adaption of Carmilla. Both are slow, atmospheric period pieces that emphasize a doomed love story between two young women. I liked both of these films a lot. I hope streaming service Shudder keeps snapping up these gay A24 cast-off horror films. The Last Thing Mary Saw might not be as good as say, The Witch, but few things are. This is a film that fits nicely into a genre of horror I already like. It executes its ideas well, though not perfectly. And, the main character shares my name. I absolutely sign off on The Last Thing Mary Saw. It’s not a film everyone will enjoy but I sure as hell did.

Overall rating: 7.0/10

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