Mary review: A crisp film with surprising twists and turns that goes haywire in second half

With 60-plus films released so far in less than three months, Sandalwood has witnessed some of the best films in recent times.

Only a handful of them have managed to succeed at the box office and many got lost in the crowded atmosphere. Nevertheless, the Kannada film industry continues to produce some great sensible films.

Mary is another addition to the long list of “hatke” ventures.

The twists and turns

The movie kickstarts with Mary (Anoosha Bhat), an IT employee, who takes a break from her work and visits Chikkamagaluru on a solo trip. She wants to explore her wildlife photography skills.

She is soon seen storming into a local police station to complain that she was sexually assaulted by an unidentified man during her stay in the resort.

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She suspects that one of the three guys with whom she had a scuffle at the resort over their disturbance while partying was the perpetrator.

Sub-inspector Ravikumar (Vikas Utthaiah) takes charge at the station to look into the rape charges filed by the victim. Meanwhile, the head of the police station is missing in action for a reason.

Will Mary get justice or is there a twist to it? This is what the film has in store for one-and-a-half hours.

Here is the MARY (ಮೇರಿ) Sneak peek 0️⃣2️⃣. 💥
🔗 https://t.co/K8OW1fnthn

MARY (ಮೇರಿ) releasing in theaters from March 10th 2023.

Written and directed by Manoj P Nadalumane and Produced by @DKSSTUDIOS.#MARYTHEFILM #MANOJPNADALUMANE #MARYKANNADAFILM #DKSStudios pic.twitter.com/dUnnAlJQ3h

— PRK Audio Official (@PRKAudio) March 7, 2023

The flashbacks

Writer-director Manoj P Nadalumane includes enough surprising elements in the story that keep it going well till it hits the intermission.

The actual tale rests on flashbacks as it progresses. But once the suspense gets broken, the tempo of Mary which was running smoothly until then starts to go haywire.

The second half is where the maker could have worked it better for a gripping finale.

However, the good thing about Mary is that it is crisp and quick and can be watched once.

ನಮ್ಮ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಮೊದಲ ಸಿನೆಮಾ ಟ್ರೈಲರ್ ಇದೇ ತಿಂಗಳ 9ನೇ ತಾರೀಖು ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮುಂದೆ..

ಹಂಚಿ ಹರಸಿ ಹಾರೈಸಿ…😍

Excited to announce the trailer release date of our production’s MARY…#marykannadafilm@anooshakrishna @RANVITHDKS pic.twitter.com/uolrJb9enN

— DKSSTUDIOS (@DKSSTUDIOS) February 4, 2023

Top-notch performances

Almost half the cast of Mary is newcomers or with very little on-screen experience.

But they all make it count, especially Vikash and Anoosha as sub-inspector and the victim respectively.

Verdict

Planning to watch a decent suspense thriller in Kannada this weekend? Then Mary won’t be a disappointment, especially till it hits the second half.

Otherwise, watch for its uniqueness when it hits the small screen.

(Views expressed are personal.)