Marie is the sexpot, Mary is the sensitive one—and how. Following the death of their mother, the two M’s return to enjoy one final summer at their childhood home before their grandfather sells it. Much to their surprise, he has arranged for Peter the handyman to spruce up the place before putting it on the market. He is immediately taken with Marie, while Mary is rather taken with him. Though she makes a show of her aloofness, Marie clearly appreciates the attention, despite the pain it causes Mary. In what often seems like the mature thing to do but always turns out to be a big bitter mistake, the three try to hang out together like pals during the long hot summer. Right, good luck with that.
Mary Marie is the strangest amalgamation of genres, blending elements of the dysfunctional indie family drama, Zalman King-style soft core with pretensions, and Southern Gothic by way of Upstate New York. That it works to the surprising extent that it does is a credit to cinematographer Magela Crosignani whose gauzy, day-dreamy look perfectly suits the characters’ feverish languor.
Frankly, it is a bit difficult to understand what either Mar could see in the scraggly handyman, but they themselves are both certainly attractive. Without question, Marry Marie is definitely the pick of this year’s NewFest for straight men. In fact, it is a rather surprising selection for the festival, considering the problematic nature of the wink-wink lesbianism viewers are lead to suspect, but here it is nonetheless.
