Faith and religion are important elements in a person’s life, especially when it comes to relationships between couples and understanding one’s own values. Mary of Astoria is a short film from writer/director Carly Bivona that highlights and pokes fun at God, Jesus Christ, and pregnancy all at once.
The movie centers on Mary (Allie Donnelly), a young woman who lives in Astoria, Queens. She wakes up to Angel Gabriel (Matthew Melendez), who informs Mary that she is pregnant with God’s child. This news stuns Mary, but she plays along and tries to accept her newfound reality (even though she has a lot of questions). As Mary attempts to embrace the fact that she’s pregnant, she also juggles her personal relationships with Joseph (Theron Taylor Montgomery) and Brandon (Timmy Lewis).
The film is stylistically funny due to its resemblance of a mockumentary TV sitcom like Modern Family or The Office. This style works here because it reveals the primary characters’ thoughts and perspectives. There are moments when Mary and Joseph talk about each other and reveal little nuggets, like Joseph’s obsession with Extreme Makeover Home Edition’s Ty Pennington (when it appears Joseph is referencing Jesus Christ as an important figure who was a carpenter). There are also comical close-up shots that occur when characters lie, such as Mary not telling Joseph about her relationship with Brandon or lying to Gabriel about being a virgin.
There are some slight elements of Bruce Almighty as well, which saw Jim Carrey portray a regular but funny newsman whose life changes when he meets Morgan Freeman’s iteration of God and obtains his supernatural powers. While there’s no superpowers in this film, Mary is depicted as an ordinary woman who comes into contact with holy figures (conveniently dressed in white wardrobe) and is the “chosen one” meant to carry the Son of God. Aside from her brief encounter with Gabriel, Mary meets God (Kevin Gill), who also refers to reality TV when expressing his admiration for Andy Cohen and for mentioning a show he and Mary both view.
The conversation between Mary and God is intriguing because even though they both somewhat agree that Mary may not be the right woman to have God’s child due to her unconventional lifestyle, they are each willing to take a chance and see if this opportunity will work for her. As Mary, Donnelly is hilarious because she doesn’t take her protagonist too seriously and has fun in presenting her as a woman who’s willing to explore her options while still obtaining control of her life. Gill’s portrayal of God is also funny in his bluntness toward Mary, like acknowledging that God is a man and not a woman, sarcastically laughing at Mary’s commentary, and comically saying he’ll accept Andy Cohen to heaven even if he commits wrongdoing.
Mary of Astoria is a brisk seven-minute comedy that parodies God and conception, while using reality TV as a motif to exaggerate the characters. The film also proves that, regardless of an individual’s career or relationship status, God can surround everyone’s life and impact major decisions they have to make over time.
