The Last Thing Mary Saw

A blindfolded woman with blood seeping from beneath is challenged to recite the lord’s prayer. Two men either side of the inquisitor raise their rifles; the meaning is obvious but she completes it, perfectly. So begins The Last Thing Mary Saw a period piece set in 1843 rural America where religion is formally first and last and always with no room for deviance in any form.

And deviance is what Mary (Stefanie Scott) is accused of. The daughter in a well to do family she’s shown some affection for the maid Eleanor (Isabelle Fuhrman). This didn’t go unnoticed leading to ‘correction’ measures that include kneeling for a long period on rice.

This however doesn’t dampen their ardour and they put upon local outcast Theodore (P J Sosko) to help them and for a loaf of bread he lets them use the barn. Spied on by Mary’s young brother Matthew (Elijah Rayman) Eleanor is silenced by matriarch (Judith Roberts).

Switching between Mary’s testimony and the events everything is complicated by the arrival of a stranger (Rory Culkin) and the strange death of the matriarch.

Slow and brooding, The Last Thing Mary Saw isn’t that far removed from the villagers and pitchforks lets-burn-the-witch films that pepper the horror genre. There are though these just stroll up to the house with lanterns. This concentrates on deeply held religious beliefs, intolerance, superstition plus some supernatural, the latter more of a guest appearance than the dominant factor.

Here it’s intolerance and those that were considered deviants: Theodore is an outcast, Eleanor and Mary are in love, and the stranger has a facial scar that he has to keep covered up. However these don’t automatically earn our sympathy as Theodore and the stranger are out for themselves, though the latter becomes more ambiguous as the film progresses.

The atmosphere never lifts above oppressive as writer and director Edoardo Vitaletti builds dread. There are few outright jumps, this is all about slow burn anticipation as we know to some extent what is coming though that doesn’t lessen the effect. The performances are for the most part understated which suit the general grim air of the piece.

The Last Thing Mary Saw is available on Shudder.