American Mary
XLrator Media | Release Date: May 31, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
5
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesAndy WebsterMay 30, 2013
This film — the second from the Soskas, and shot in their hometown, Vancouver, British Columbia — combines gore, quiet dread, feminist conviction and a visual classicism, often using a red palette, with impressive, unbelabored dexterity. Read full review
80
Total FilmMatt GlasbyMay 28, 2013
Katharine Isabelle is phenomenal in one of the most original and politically engaged horrors of recent years, even if the second half isn’t a patch on the first. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonNigel FloydMay 28, 2013
American Mary nods savvily to the ‘body horror’ of ‘Audition’ and ‘Dead Ringers’ but still possesses a truly original, deeply disturbing vision. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeMay 30, 2013
It’s a truly interesting slasher fest; in this one, the heroine gets to be both beauty and beast. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineDrew HuntMay 31, 2013
The filmmakers certainly exaggerate (i.e. exploit) their subject, but for a community that prides itself on shock value, there seems no sufficient alternative. Read full review
60
VarietyDennis HarveyMay 28, 2013
This tale of a violently disillusioned medical student’s wade into the weird world of extreme body modification doesn’t develop all its narrative and thematic ideas to the fullest. But the polished pic is still outre and entertaining enough to please most jaded horror fans. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinMay 30, 2013
Writer-director siblings Jen and Sylvia Soska allow their film to turn slack and unfocused after an enticingly lurid, wickedly tense first half. Read full review
42
The PlaylistGabe ToroMay 30, 2013
Ultimately, American Mary simply reveals itself as a film with little on its mind, content to scare rubberneckers into contemplating the backstory of the more outlandish body manipulation jobs they’ve seen in public. A documentary would have sufficed. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 28, 2013
It's made with gusto, but there's little dramatic interest for non-enthusiasts. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMay 28, 2013
The movie sags after Mary’s weak-willed acquiescence to crime, instantly turning her into a dull-eyed monster. You know her procedures are bound to stray from elective, but it’s hard to care. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMay 30, 2013
Featuring murky visuals, an even murkier narrative that lamely sputters to its conclusion, and frequently amateurish performances — the effectively low-key Isabelle is a notable exception — the film never explores its undeniably disturbing issues with enough thematic depth to compensate for its ragged execution. Read full review
30
Village VoiceSherilyn ConnellyMay 28, 2013
This Canadian film seems to be trying to make some points about body dysphoria or modern fame, but the one point it's absolutely sure of is that [Katharine] Isabelle is a startlingly beautiful woman with a well-proportioned (and exploitable) body. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubNick SchagerMay 29, 2013
Nonsensical and all-around third-rate, American Mary offers up Human Centipede-style surgical horror, except this time with endless absurd eroticism. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisMay 29, 2013
Given its many failings, nothing short of an extreme makeover could save American Mary. Scalpel, please. Read full review
0
ObserverRex ReedMay 28, 2013
The acting is uniformly dreadful. The level of incompetence in both writing and direction is a scream. Read full review
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