A elderly woman tours a stately home where she had a series of traumatic experiences and recounts them to its young caretaker. Maggie Smith and Ruth Wilson play older and younger versions of the titular "Mary" and are excellent. The bulk of the film is a flashback with older Mary recalling encounters with an oddly sinister man (played with a distinctly Satanic flair by Walliams) and how this impacted the trajectory of her life.
The film's set up is a bit awkward. I find it hard to believe that someone like Mary would recount some of the most devastating moments of her life to the young caretaker, Joe. And her interactions with him (while not the focus of the film) seem like plot conveniences. But if you turn your attention to the story she tells, most of that will slide away. The movie seems to have a couple of ideas at its core. First, the dreadful secrets that Walliams shares with Mary are bad enough on their own but take on an even more dreadful sheen when you realize that it is a manipulation on his part, an attempt to bind Mary to him for some ill-defined purpose. Second, we get to see how Mary copes with the set-backs to what could have been a brilliant career (maybe) but for her rejection of Walliams' character. A very telling moment comes at the end when Mary is forced to ask herself whether or not she hasn't used the unpleasant encounters with Walliams as an excuse, a reason for not trying as hard as she could have. Ultimately, there's no clear answer to that sort of question and one must do as Mary seems to do, soldier on. In the end, perhaps, it's not such a bad thing to just be "a nice lady" as Joe describes her.
It's an odd film with some compelling ideas and excellent acting.
The film's set up is a bit awkward. I find it hard to believe that someone like Mary would recount some of the most devastating moments of her life to the young caretaker, Joe. And her interactions with him (while not the focus of the film) seem like plot conveniences. But if you turn your attention to the story she tells, most of that will slide away. The movie seems to have a couple of ideas at its core. First, the dreadful secrets that Walliams shares with Mary are bad enough on their own but take on an even more dreadful sheen when you realize that it is a manipulation on his part, an attempt to bind Mary to him for some ill-defined purpose. Second, we get to see how Mary copes with the set-backs to what could have been a brilliant career (maybe) but for her rejection of Walliams' character. A very telling moment comes at the end when Mary is forced to ask herself whether or not she hasn't used the unpleasant encounters with Walliams as an excuse, a reason for not trying as hard as she could have. Ultimately, there's no clear answer to that sort of question and one must do as Mary seems to do, soldier on. In the end, perhaps, it's not such a bad thing to just be "a nice lady" as Joe describes her.
It's an odd film with some compelling ideas and excellent acting.