Mary Chris Max is writer/director/star Tatiana Sokolova’s thriller about three strangers forced to spend Christmas on the run from something far larger than they bargained for.
On Christmas Eve in the middle of nowhere, we find Mary (Tatiana Sokolova) chained to a bed in her stepfather’s house after years of captivity. When he brings home a tiny tree as a Christmas gift for her, Mary begs to be loosened from her chains, promising she’s been good and won’t repeat what happened last time. Her stepfather naively agrees, unchains her, and takes her into town. But the moment her stepfather walks into the diner for a meal, Mary makes her move—she bolts from the car and runs. Her stepfather gives chase, and just as he’s closing in, a car driven by Chris (Kyle Leatherberry) and Max (Wesley Reed Jr.) passes her on the road. They stop, pull her inside, and speed off before her stepfather can reach them. That was close.
Chris and Max bring Mary back to their grandfather’s house, where he lives the rest of his days in a wheelchair, non-responsive, and attended by a nurse. The two young adults have had rough lives themselves, but they decide to help Mary escape her past for good. Their plan is straightforward: find her mother and hope she’ll take Mary in. But plans never stay simple once they hit reality. What unfolds is a tightening spiral of complications—a terminator-like stepfather who will stop at nothing, a mystery lying in the true origins of Chris and Max, and a true Mary Chris Max that no one will forget.
“On Christmas Eve in the middle of nowhere, we find Mary chained to a bed in her stepfather’s house after years of captivity.”
Mary Chris Max is a very low-budget thriller with very few resources, but a cast and crew willing to piece together a masterpiece. I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece, but it has all the elements of a thriller and then some. First, we’ve got some very well-defined characters. Mary immigrated to the U.S. with her mother and was stuck with his h***y ways when her mother left without a trace. Chris and Max are two brothers who have learned to survive in the world on their own devices. Let’s just say, they are not proud of what they had to do to survive, but survive they did.
Storywise, this tale is hardly about finding Mary’s mom, but it’s about the chase. It’s not just stepdad they are running from, as the film is loaded with twists and turns that make you feel like you’re on a roller coaster. It gets a bit scary and a bit sexy at times.
The downside of the movie is its low budget. The acting is rough at times, the soundtrack is not that expensive, but what gets Mary Chris Max a recommendation is an ambitious story and some decent cinematography and editing. It’s not easy making a movie, but writer/director/star Tatiana Sokolova somehow finds a way.
Mary Chris Max can be streamed on Tubi TV.
"…a bit scary and a bit sexy at times."
