In the bonus track of the DVD, actress Emily Mortimer described "Mary" as a film "about a real family, marriage, and love." Indeed, the Greers were a loving family with the skipper father David, the caring mom Sarah, and the two girls, Lyndsey and little Mary. It was precisely because they were such a nice family that the film was so unpleasant in chronicling their disintegration in an ill-starred venture at sea in the Caribbean.
Captain Dave notices at an auction an old skiff called the "Mary," which, for him, is the find of a lifetime. But, he will definitely have a case of buyer's remorse for purchasing it and refurbishing it. He has even read that in its three previous voyages, the German vessel had never returned its human travelers to the world of the living. Now, the horror will be vested for a fourth time on the unsuspecting Greer family.
As the curse of the "Mary" unfolds, it was disappointing that it was never made clear who actually is Mary, what is her story, and why she must voraciously continue to claim human victims (especially children!) from her voyages. This background would have given more substance to the film, avoiding a pure horror scenario.
SPOILER FOLLOWS: At the close of the film, it appears as if the curse of Mary has afflicted Sarah, who will continue to turn the wives of noble seafarers into widows through eternity. For this reason, there needed to be more of the history of the curse.
The final loose end in the film was the sketchy background on a moment of weakness of Sarah, when she was unfaithful to Dave in a one-timer. It was never made clear in the film if the voyage on the "Mary" was retribution for Sarah's momentary lapse in the commission of one of the seven deadly sins. Like the 1988 film starring Cameron Diaz, there was clearly "something about Mary" in that old rusty, barnacled-clad skiff, but it was never fleshed out completely in the film.
Captain Dave notices at an auction an old skiff called the "Mary," which, for him, is the find of a lifetime. But, he will definitely have a case of buyer's remorse for purchasing it and refurbishing it. He has even read that in its three previous voyages, the German vessel had never returned its human travelers to the world of the living. Now, the horror will be vested for a fourth time on the unsuspecting Greer family.
As the curse of the "Mary" unfolds, it was disappointing that it was never made clear who actually is Mary, what is her story, and why she must voraciously continue to claim human victims (especially children!) from her voyages. This background would have given more substance to the film, avoiding a pure horror scenario.
SPOILER FOLLOWS: At the close of the film, it appears as if the curse of Mary has afflicted Sarah, who will continue to turn the wives of noble seafarers into widows through eternity. For this reason, there needed to be more of the history of the curse.
The final loose end in the film was the sketchy background on a moment of weakness of Sarah, when she was unfaithful to Dave in a one-timer. It was never made clear in the film if the voyage on the "Mary" was retribution for Sarah's momentary lapse in the commission of one of the seven deadly sins. Like the 1988 film starring Cameron Diaz, there was clearly "something about Mary" in that old rusty, barnacled-clad skiff, but it was never fleshed out completely in the film.