American Mary
Directed by Jen Soska, Sylvia SoskaThe allure of easy money sends Mary Mason, a medical student, into the world of underground surgeries which ends up leaving more marks on her than her so called 'freakish' clients.
American Mary Ratings & Reviews
- M08YJune 13, 2025American Mary is a pretty unique movie. The most interesting thing about American Mary is how it isnt particularly grotesque. It would have been very easy for the film to rely on body horror in a bloody extravaganza to score some easy shock points, but no such cheap point scoring here. It takes the time to build up to the horror, and even then, the film never shows you more than you need to get your imagination going. A fine art that horror films are often ignorant to. This movie has a lot to say about autonomy and the consequences of taking away peoples autonomy. Mary is overally a well rounded character, enabling people to express themselves through surgery at "a reasonable price". Some elements of Mary's personal journey were seemingly rushed over to keep the runtime down, which is understandable but rather unfortunate as I could quite happily have watched another 20 minutes. Casting is solid, with a very unsettling yet powerful performance from Tristan Risk. Katharine Isabelle is good as Mary, although the directing doesnt seem to make the most of her. Only real complaint is the audio during the few punches that are thrown in the film, for some reason the punches sound very muted and staged, A small price to pay for such a uniquely interesting movie.
- Paul WalshFebruary 13, 2026A guilty pleasure of a flick. Plenty gruesome, messy and wince inducing. And the main character is hawt!
- jackmeatJanuary 13, 2026My quick rating - 6.6/10. The twisted twins, Sylvia and Jen Soska, are back with their second full-length feature. Now that people are taking notice to their talent, this time they have a budget (although they did need to take out a second mortgage to get the project off the ground). Anyway, this movie is about Mary, a brilliant med student studying to be a surgeon. Equally brilliant is the performance by Katharine Isabelle portraying Mary. Of course, money issues arise, as seems to always happen to college kids, so she decides stripping may be the way to go. While "interviewing" for the job, a strange occurrence puts her in the helm of a situation where she is needed to perform surgery at the club for quick cash. She soon realizes that maybe under-the-table surgical procedures may become a way to make money, so when a woman tracks her down after finding her resume at the club, she takes on a second patient. Mary finds herself juggling the tasks of student and surgeon on the side. Well, the life of being a student is crossed when she is invited to a "party" where she is the guest of honor, so to speak, and the world of the actual surgeons takes a toll on her as she is drugged and raped. This incident pushes Mary over the edge, and she takes matters into her own hands. This movie does a wonderful job weaving the tale of a woman who is forced into a life she wasn't prepared for, that of BME and revenge. It follows her downward spiral, balancing reality with the virtually psychotic road she has chosen. The movie is much more polished than its predecessor, and it shows in the quality of camerawork and editing. The acting is very well done by Katharine Isabelle as Mary, and the other actors hold their own in their respective roles (Tristan Risk is criminally underrated). Of course, the blood and gore are there, but not as extensive as their previous effort. It really wasn't needed for the story the twins wrote. American Mary had a limited theater release, so you may or may not have had the chance to see it. If not, I again highly suggest that you find this movie. It is good to see new talent emerging with entertaining movies that don't follow the cookie-cutter mold Hollywood has been giving us. I very much anticipate the next release from these two. My review was here under the archives, but now, after seeing it in the theater, I appreciate even more just how original this movie was and just how well it was written to show the descent of Mary down such a strange path. Also, people's comments about "not being what they expected" were perfect. Since most (and many of you) know about me, unheard of movies tend to be chaotic gorefests, but this is nothing like that. I said 6.6, and I should stick to my original rating, but I think I would tip it above 7 the second time. I have not rewatched since that comment.
- jonathanmochrieDecember 18, 2025Fantastic movie. I was gutted at the end....but, how else could it end(no plot spoilers)
- susied66October 24, 2025Mary can cut & sew me up any time! love the Saska Sister's way of thinking...and killing.
- benniebAugust 31, 2025Very cool Still hoping for a second part
- Alexis GodinFebruary 18, 2025I wasn't expecting that kind of movie. Some incoherences, but overall I did enjoy the movie.
American Mary Trivia
American Mary was released on May 31, 2012.
American Mary was directed by Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska.
American Mary has a runtime of 1h 42m.
American Mary was produced by Evan Tylor, John A. Curtis.
The allure of easy money sends Mary Mason, a medical student, into the world of underground surgeries which ends up leaving more marks on her than her so called 'freakish' clients.
The key characters in American Mary are Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle), Billy Barker (Antonio Cupo), Beatress Johnson (Tristan Risk).
American Mary is rated R.
American Mary is a Horror, Thriller, Drama film.
American Mary has an audience rating of 5.3 out of 10.