It’s always interesting when reviewing or just watching a horror or thriller film and discovering one’s past movies they were involved in such as  Michael Goi, early on in his career he worked on a dreadful film called Sorority House Vampires (1998) from there he worked hard honing his skills showcasing talents, to work on American Horror Story and other films, but to work with Oscar winner a wonderful achievement. Screenwriter Anthony Jaswinski (The Shallows [2016]), that takes the time to actually develop emotional depth in primary leads of the flick, a refreshing approach. The movie found distribution from RLJE Entertainment, achieving some frights for the audiences in October 2019.

The film basically opens with Sarah who sits in interrogation room held in custody on suspicion of murder, and retells her tale of woe, a well-worn manner of introducing a story, though the ending does contain some twists, a well-seasoned horror fan might see them coming on into the flick. David (Gary Oldman (Bram Stoker’s Dracula [1992])) is a fishing boat captain for someone else, but seeks to set sail on his own course, for a better life for his family and rekindle his strained marriage with Sarah (Emily Mortimer (Scream 3 [2000])), however as with most clichés it doesn’t go according to plan. First, he was attracted to an odd, old boat called Mary without consulting anyone and he plans to sail the family to Bermuda and through the triangle to start their new business.  It causes some turmoil between David and Sarah, but it blows over, hence their daughters Lindsay (Stefanie Scott) and Mary (Chloe Perrin (Itsy Bitsy [2019])) join in with crew hands Mike (Manuel Garcia-Ruffo) and Tommy (Owen Teague), who is Lindsay’s boyfriend, for we all know is a doomed voyage. Goi uses both the claustrophobia of the limited cabin space and showing their peril of a little sailboat in the vastness of the ocean, faced with problems on a personal level and from nature itself, However much more does occur in the film, there’s other clichés at work, the little girl Mary drawing creepy pictures playing with her imaginary friend, hearing and seeing things others don’t and of course possession on sea and land. Those on the vessel find themselves tested in new manners while dealing with trust factors, loss of hope and love.

While the jump scares dominate the screen, there are a few subtle cinematography shorts that hint to future unrest in the lead actors, namely Oldman and Mortimer, with both present fine chemistry, but that shows some distrust. plenty of decent scares to be found during the course of Mary. One needs to note Perrin does provide some interesting moments, always fascinating when a child can use their imagination to propel their role in the film, especially where the horrors don’t present themselves clearly. I have mentioned the overuse of clichés and that is clear, but the film’s structure causes other minor ripples however, luckily enough can be overlooked.

In the horror genre, one needs to know when to close out the movie, leave the audience grasping for more, of at it seems to keep going and hence Mary gets blown off course. The film’s ending reminds me of Satan’s Triangle (1975), if you view both films you’ll see some comparisons in the conclusion. While the scary and look of the production hits all the marks, the script writing is slightly troublesome, and it has a solid score to accompany the film. Therefore if you’re thinking of taking a pleasure sail or wanting to purchase a used boat, best be aware of any sirens and history, for the seas contains many secrets it has taken to a watery grave.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5834854/

IMDb Rating: 5.2/10

Baron’s Rating: 5.0/10