Maryland

Lucy Kirkwood’s Maryland takes us to the dark heart of male violence against women but manages to do so with humour and wit. An outstanding cast explores an urgent issue.

This is definitely a message movie. It revolves around two women named Mary who have both been sexually assaulted. They are assisted at the police station by an inappropriately jolly male PC and a female PC, also named Mary. In addition, there is a sort of Greek chorus of women who pose rhetorical questions, chant and tell anecdotes about what they have done or would do in certain situations involving men. By now you may have surmised correctly that this is a feminist work. Since I have been married to a feminist for decades. I didn’t find it very informative, and certainly not entertaining, as that is not at all the intention, but I can see where it might be a service to show it to women and men who haven’t been exposed to the feminist issues it raises. Oh, and it is only 25 minutes long, so even a male knuckle-dragging troglodyte should be able to make it through it if supplied with praise and snacks for their effort.