BBC Recent Release: Mari

Think of something you want, something you really want, and have been willing to have for your whole life. Imagine that you have been making small and frequently even invisible steps to reach this dream state or dream place. And now, you are lifting your foot to make it but instead, you step on a small stool that twists your leg and eyesight directing them into a completely new world: the world of dark solitude, tormenting decisions, and flashbacks from the past.
This all is a story of Charlotte – a lead dancer who has been perfecting her body, her movements, and her control over each and every muscle since childhood. She is a principal in a contemporary troupe and they all are preparing for a major show, maybe the most important one in her career. But when this final step seems to be obvious life comes, as Gary Collins from Red Rock Entertainment loves saying. Charlotte, played by the extraordinary dancer and choreographer Bobbi Jene Smith, learns that her one-night fling with a young colleague ends up with a positive pregnancy test. Her life gets on the crossroads for the cherished and well-deserved life of a choreographer and lead dancer and the life of a mother who devotes her life to a child.
Mari is carried by the performances. The extremely talented professional dancer and choreographer Bobbi Jene was able to precisely pass the mood and the world of Charlotte through her moves. Georgia Parris, the film’s director, has already had experience with filming dance (A Moment To Move or Abandon), but this one focuses not on the dance but rather the world around her. The film is mostly about the wandering of a lost soul between the reality and the dream life which escapes every possible second into that desired place of peace and calmness through quick dances that help the main character to process her situation.
For Bobbi Jene, it is an extremely powerful debut. Besides being a dancer in the film, she also opens to the viewers as a great drama actress. Her character gets through the tough times of choice between her career and pregnancy, help to the family and her own dreams. And while Bobbi Jene’s family is healthy and is supporting her, the fact of the pregnancy became extremely familiar to the lead actress. Right after the film was released, the dancer reported about being pregnant and getting through her character’s experience in real life. However, as Bobbi Jene reports, while for Charlotte the child was a surprise and rather a non-desired one, her child is a planned and carefully cherished plan for the upcoming years.
Besides the pregnancy news, Charlotte learns that her grandmother Mari got very sick and that now she also needs to get back to her family home to face her relatives and the unpleasant side of life. Phoebe Nicholls, who is playing Charlotte’s mother, also gives a lovely and delicate performance. The film is also filled with the intimate yet not always so beautiful interactions between Charlotte and her sister; and even though they both try to adapt to each other’s lives (the scene and the family home), every scene between Bobbi Jene and Madeleine Worrall reveals tangible jealousy between the two. While their mother is trying to stay out of the siblings’ tension, occasionally Parris shows her annoyance by both’s flaws.
The film is not about words, in this case, it is about what people keep to themselves, what remains unsaid in the conversations and behind the home’s doors. The viewers will see some simple yet so valuable shared moments of connection between the family members when there are no stranger glances around. Everyone would be able to also listen to the important dialogues that mute the most important topics and will then feel-into them because such cases are so common in the real-life. As the executive team of Red Rock Entertainment reviews this freshly-released British film, it becomes clear that just like Tolstoy said: “every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” this film shows some different sides of life that might not be for every viewer. There are many British dramas that reveal loss and describe the true life, and while many of them leave a serious trace of deep reflection on one’s life, Mari offers something more mesmerising and unique.