The Last Thing Mary Saw (Movie Review)

It’s Winter of 1843 and the matriarch of a devout family is dead. Mary (Stefanie Scott), recently blinded, is suspected of the evil deed due to behavior that stems from what the strict and religious townsfolk deem an abhorrent relationship with the Mary’s family’s house maid, Eleanor (Isabelle Fuhrman). Edoardo Vitaletti’s debut feature is a dark and ominous trudge through the perceptions of evil and fear in things we do not understand and how that fear dominates and controls our actions.

The contentious relationship of religion and forbidden love is fertile ground in the horror realm. LGBTQ+ themes tend to be a comfortably snug fit when also exploring pious beliefs, especially as it invokes and challenges one’s character and exposing their true nature. In Vitaletti’s feature, Mary and Eleanor are drawn to each other, despite constantly being subjected to “correction” the act of forcing the pair to kneel on uncooked rice while reciting the Lord’s prayer and announcing your faith. In this world, beliefs are so strict that forgetting the words to the prayer is punishable by a point blank rifle shot to the face. And so, the lesbian relationship driving the paranoia and fear in the community feeds the crescendo of dread where eventually something has to give.

Vitaletti’s pacing employs a slow burn not unlike Robert Egger’s The Witch. The way the events progress doesn’t allow for much in the way of intense propulsive scares, but a creeping sense of
foreboding that permeates every scene. The film is drenched almost completely in darkness, not unbecoming of the time period. The flickering candlelight lets the imagination conjure the
implied evil lurking in the shadows as dread drapes over the audience as the desperation and fear of the characters builds

The script (also penned by Vitaletti) vaguely injects the occult into the proceedings, though it never truly feels fully fleshed out and only provides its sobering and chilly effect in the film’s final moments. However, while all the performances are quite great, it’s Judith Robert’s terrifyingly icy presence that helps The Last Thing Mary Saw linger once the credits start to roll.

Like the pitch black shadows swallowing the backround of every scene, The Last Thing Mary Saw manages to creep into your subconscious quietly and unexpectedly. It’s chills are not
obvious and it’s certainly not flashy, but there’s an admirable patience to Vitaletti’s directorial debut that can’t be understated and subtly positioning this auteur as a talent to keep an eye on.