MARY

US, 2019, 84 minutes, Colour.
Gary Oldman, Emily Mortimer, Emmanuel Garcia- Rocco, Stefanie Scott, Chloe Perrin, Owen Teague, Jennifer Esposito.
Directed by Michael Goi.

This is a different thriller about diabolical possession. This kind of possession is usually in human beings and animals. And, there are haunted houses. This time it is a haunted ship, a sailing boat, called Mary.

It is also a brief thriller, B-budget material but with top stars, Gary Oldman as a veteran sailor, employed for taking tourists around, wanting something more, seeing an opportunity in an old boat found abandoned, Mary, renovating the boat and going on a trip with his wife, played by Emily Mortimer. They have two daughters. On-board also is a boyfriend of the older daughter and the father had rescued from juvenile detention. Also a sailor who has his eye on the wife.

Documentation and newspaper reports surface, the history of Mary, cruise disappearing.

After the images of the boat abandoned at sea, there is the framework for the whole film where a Coast Guard officer, played by Jennifer Esposito, is interrogating the wife. She narrates the story in flashbacks, her husband buying the boat, the opposition, acquiescence, the renovation, the celebration and the launch, setting sail.

However, the film includes some premonitions, mysterious ghostly faces, nightmares, and, eventually, some diabolical experiences and death threats.

The wife explains to the Coast Guard interrogator that evil can possess anything.

By the end, there are questions for the audience to ponder, whether it all really happened, whether it could happen, or whether there is something more mundanely sinister about the behaviour of the wife.

1. Story? Haunted ship? Classy cast?

2. The Florida settings, Coast Guard headquarters, the Bay and the Marina, the yachts, the floating yacht? The open sea, the yacht, the interiors? The horror effects? The musical score?

3. Sarah telling the story, to the Coast Guard authorities, the framework for the narrative, her flashbacks? The conclusion? The haunting? Sara’s imagination? Demon possessing the ship? Or possessing Sarah?

4. The history of the yacht, found floating, the crew vanished? Later information about previous voyages, families disappearing, owners disappearing, crews? The figure on the bow? The yacht itself, floating, refurbished? On the voyage? Mike and the destruction?

5. The ghostly appearances, the ship as the embodiment of evil, appearances, Tommy taking the photo, the dreams? Taking possession of the girls? Tommy’s ghost, Lindsay to hang herself?

6. David, the tours, wanting his own boat, working for Jay, relationship with Sarah, with the girls, the memory of her infidelity, forgiveness? Buying the boat, Sarah’s outburst, the money, her consenting, the loans, the refurbishment? Mike and his help? Tommy? The photo and the apparition?

7. David, ambitions, sailing? Sarah, agreeing, participation in the voyage? Lindsay, the attraction to Tommy? Tommy’s background in detention and David helping him? Mary and her drawings? Mike and his help?

8. The details of the voyage, happy aspects, deterioration, evil taking possession, the effect on Mary, Lindsay and the hanging, the dreams?

9. Mike, the destruction of the sails, their overpowering him? His getting free, the attack on David, David tying him up? The girls tied up, Lindsay and her being thrown overboard, surviving, freeing the girls?

10. The interrogator, believing or not, attentive listening, the surveillance cameras? Sarah wanting to see her daughters?

11. The audience left to decide whether Sarah was telling the truth or not?