Mary and Max

2010 • 92 minutes
4.7
251 reviews
95%
Tomatometer
Eligible
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About this movie

The opening night film at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009, MARY AND MAX is the animated (claymation) tale of a friendship between two unlikely pen pals and confidantes: Mary is a lonely and gloomy eight-year-old girl who lives with her alcoholic mother, her factory working father and a pet rooster, in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia and Max is a forty-four-year old, severely obese man with Asperger's syndrome living in New York City. They share a lengthy long-distance relationship, one seriously complicated by Max's mental health issues, which cause problems both physical and emotional. Toni Colette voices Mary and Philip Seymour Hoffman voices Max in MARY AND MAX, directed by Australian animator and Academy Award Winner Adam Elliott. It is a study of loneliness and curiosity. Eric Bana and Barry Humphries (Dame Edna) also supply characters' voices.

Ratings and reviews

4.7
251 reviews
Everyone Hates Us Here
September 28, 2018
This film is simply beautiful, it is tragic and dark but also beautiful and happy. You will be dragged through emotional extremes. The subjects lead real lives filled with hardship, confusion, and occasionally joy. One of the major themes is life with a learning disability. As a person with similar issues to the coincidentally named character, I found the portrayal to be accurate and unoffensive. I recommend spending the extra to watch in HD. The claymation is detailed and used with a consistent, gritty, unique style. The soundtrack is used effectively and adds to the film by enforcing the tones thoughtfully but not in an overbearing way. If you are looking for something light or simple, this is not it. If you are looking for something complex and beautiful, I believe you will enjoy.
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grilled cheese
December 7, 2021
This movie will make you laugh, cry and everything in between. Yes the movie is not rainbows and puppy dogs but that's what makes it so charming. Mental illness and lonlyness are NOT fun topics, Sure it's a bit dark but that's what makes it so damn amazing. Still to this day i find myself coming back to this film and id say it's up there in my top 10 movies of all time. Please do yourself a favor and watch this, You won't be disappointed!
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Vanessa Brown
January 8, 2016
I had the honor of being able to watch this movie several times on Netflix some months ago. Before they took it off, I managed to finally sit down and watch, what I thought was going to be a cute children's film. But further investigation made me realize that this is solely for a bit if an older audience. As far as adult humor goes. But this movie kept me captivated. It had the claymation stylings slightly similar to Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride". I could go in and on, but we'd be here forever! Heart warming
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