Rating: 3/5
Hooptober 6.0 | 21/32 | women-directed film 1/2 | Countries 4/6 | Canada
I don't really think it's fair that God gets to choose what we look like on the outside. Do you?
Mary (Katharine Isabelle) runs a scalpel across turkey skin, creating wounds to suture for practice. Mary is a surgical student who loves her field and excels at it. Student loan services call her repeatedly. She’s behind on her phone service fees. She owes money that she doesn’t have. So, she applies to work at a strip club.
During her interview with Billy, during which she reveals that she’s a surgical student, word reaches him that someone cut up Rat. Billy offers her $5K in cash for an emergency surgery, no questions asked. Though she agrees, the experience leaves her terrified that, by helping, she has invited danger into her life.
A woman named Beatress shows up at Mary’s place. Beatress received twelve surgical procedures to resemble Betty Boop. Her friend, Ruby, wants to transform into a human doll, but no one will perform the surgery. Beatress offers Mary substantial cash for performing the body modification surgery.
Mary becomes fascinated by extreme body modification, putting it into practice in unexpected ways.
If you are familiar with the body modification world, it won’t surprise you that this movie is exceptionally gory. That said, it’s not as overt as you might expect. The film also has a black sense of humor — par for the course with anyone in the medical field.
The movie’s ethics are intentionally vague. For example, one character believes that, so long as they don’t fuck up as a surgeon, that gives them carte blanche for the rest of their life. This includes drugging and raping someone.
The story is all over the place. We get body horror, torture porn, rape revenge, and even some slasher moments. Not all styles work individually, let alone when sutured together.
Katharine Isabelle nails the role and meets the contradicting moods with grace.
The closest film I can compare it to would be May. May, however, cares about the lead’s inner life and personality. So, when May does horrifying things, we understand why. Here, Mary remains an enigma.
Still, the filmmaking remains confident and is not as indulgent as the premise implies. I understand why folks love it, but I can only appreciate it.