Seen at...
Date for Mad Mary (A)
- Director: Darren Thornton
- Writer: Colin Thornton; Darren Thornton
- Producer: Juliette Bonass; John Brady
CGiii Comment
After 6 months, no visitors, in prison...life can leave you behind...catching up, for the mess that is 'Mad Mary', is no mean feat.
This is a film that is painted with an acute sense of light and the darkest of shades...put into the mix some [seriously] good framing and it really does become a directors' film...but, for one thing...
Seána Kerslake's performance...!
Rarely off-screen, she commands total attention...she's engaging, enthralling, enraging. Her demons unfurl, the devil in her infuriates...but, still, there's something that draws you in. Is it empathy? Because, if it is...then, director, writer and actor have to be [app]lauded for pulling this complexity off.
This - quite simply - reeks of talent - from every nook and cranny.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Fresh out of a six-month stretch in the slammer, Mary returns home to find the people around her have moved on. And it stings. Preparing a speech for her best friend Charlene’s wedding and, seeing a chance to prove that she’s not a total fuck-up, Mary decides she must find a date to take to the ceremony. Her dryly sarcastic response to her own mission may make for crackling comedy, but Mary’s misfit status has isolated her, and the version of Charlene she idolised may no longer exist. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Jess, the gorgeous wedding videographer… Brothers Darren and Colin Thornton take on directing and screenwriting roles, adapting Yasmine Akram’s stage play to deliver an instant-hit Irish feel-good film with guts. And Seána Kerslake delivers one of the stand-out performances of the year, which will have you rooting for messy, infuriating and hilariously compelling Mary all the way.
Kate Taylor
Cast & Characters
Seana Kerslake as Mary;
Tara Lee as Jess;
Charleigh Bailey as Charlene;
Denise McCormack as Suzanne;
Barbara Brennan as Nan;
Siobhan Shanahan as Leona;
Shauna Higgins as Julie;
Kyle Bradley Donaldson as Gabba;
Norma Sheahan as Sally;
Fionnuala Murphy as Charlene's Mum;
Tatiana Ouliankina as Oksana;
Kelly Byrne as Scarred Girl;
Shaun Dunne as Liam;
Susie Power as Rita;
Carolyn Bracken as Female Prison Guard