Mary Loss of Soul

Quite possibly the... Worst. Acting. Ever. I watched it because Jose Zuniga and Nick Mancuso are both talented. The other members of the cast are like high school drama club. Huh, I still watched the whole thing 😣

I'd make a joke about how this movie lacks any kind of soul, but that would give this movie too much credit. The movie is full of exposition, horrible acting, and some of the worst writing I have seen outside of the Lifetime network. The script is often laughable, but the film is so exhausting and anticlimactic that you would likely get more enjoyment out of reading the synopsis than actually watching it. Essentially, the title explains it all; a girl named Mary loses her soul mysteriously and slowly begins to turn white and pasty, losing interest in life as apparitions begin to appear to her and her family. They eventually decide to hire a medium (shaman) to get her soul back. Next to nothing in the story makes sense and feels cheap and easy. The actor who plays the father is a halfway decent actor but the rest of the cast is downright awful. I think it's amazing that someone was given the funding for this film after looking at the script, and even more so that it made it out of production at all. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

This movie fails to know what it is. The story idea is interesting, but the execution is poor. It's easy to blame the acting because there is no clear point of view, so we can't relate to anyone. The actors all do a great job despite these odds against them. The actress playing the mother, Catherine Black, is given the challenge of carrying the bulk of the dialogue and delivering all the information, yet the movie isn't about her, so it's confusing why she does all the talking. Her dialogue is over explanatory and corny, yet she does an incredible job delivering it and making it feel natural. Despite having all the dialogue, the movie isn't told through the mothers point of view, so it falls short. Everything is explained and not shown, which makes the actors look bad, and the story unbelievable. The movie should have been about a mother fearing the loss of her child's soul, but it's not. Mary Loss of Soul doesn't know what it wants to be, a horror movie for kids, a supernatural thriller, or a drama...it's never clear. A lot is missing from the story, and the POV jumps around, so it's impossible to relate to any character or to the circumstances. Everyone does a good job, the cinematography is good, the actors all good, but unfortunately the script and direction have many holes. It feels like something is missing. However, children might really enjoy this movie.

OK, the initial premise of the story is good. After that it falls apart. Catherine Black is supposed to be a mother to a 16 year old? Sorry she can't act her way out of a paper bag. Over blown performance. Same can be said for just about all the other actors as well, poor acting, or over the top stereotypical wooden acting. The only decent acting was from Emma Gruttadauria, who didn't do a bad job, given the poor story line and scripting.

I'm sorry, this should have been a good film, but it floundered badly in my opinion. I had a hard time staying awake, and I'll watch just about anything.

This movie is a clear case of genre confusion. It's a supernatural suspense, not horror. That means the story builds tension through good storytelling and character development. Supernatural stories involve paranormal elements, and the suspense is a slow burn, more Alfred Hitchcock. It doesn't depict violent, gruesome bloody acts which would be horror. It's also not a family/children movie. It's for thinking adults who want to figure out what's happening, why it happened, and how it's going to end. It's hard not to be fascinated by this movie. It has good scary elements. It's chilling, but not terror provoking. There's a deeper, subconscious connection to the mythology of "loss of soul," which is an actual condition. (Look it up, it's interesting) It delivers something very different. If you're looking for gore, you won't like this movie. It's smarter than that. It involves a functional teenage girl who is thrust into extraordinary circumstances - she's lost her soul, but is still alive. Now the fun begins! I read the reviews here and yes, there's no swearing or overt sexuality. This movie breaks some stereotypes, which is why I liked it. I didn't catch some of the nuances and honestly thought I had it figured out from the very beginning and then found out I was wrong. I enjoyed the surprise! If you can get past it being labeled horror, and if you like paranormal and supernatural, and just a Good Movie, you'll really like this one.