Drama,TV Movie
South Africa,United States of America
The movie Mary and Martha was directed by Phillip Noyce and written by Richard Curtis. It was produced by Working Title Television, and was initially broadcasted on HBO on April 20, 2013. The film is an emotional drama that explores the effects of malaria on society and how it can be addressed. It portrays the journey of two women who are brought together by grief and are driven by a common purpose to fight against the disease.
The lead roles are played by two talented actresses, Hilary Swank as Mary Morgan and Brenda Blethyn as Martha O'Connell. The film is shot predominantly in South Africa, which is convincing as Mozambique, where George dies of malaria. The movie depicts the African landscape and the local people's way of life.
Mary Morgan is a successful interior designer residing in Virginia with her banker husband, Peter, and her son, George. She is a devoted mother who takes her child out of school for home-schooling after the continuous torture he underwent involving bullying. Mary is a doting parent, engaging in activities like painting and going for vacations with George. One such tour leads them to Mozambique, where George gets infected with malaria and tragically dies.
Martha O'Connell plays a middle-aged English woman and is Ben's mother, a teacher working overseas. She lost her son to the same disease, despite having been under medication. Martha is a very strong-willed woman who decides to stay in Mozambique to make a difference concerning malaria. She joins hands with a local doctor named Dr Manuel (Samuel Bento), and together they try to spread awareness about the disease and distribute mosquito nets to the affected people.
On returning home to Virginia, Mary develops a passion to make a difference in combating malaria. With the help of her father, she approaches a senate committee on health spending and presents her proposal on how things can be changed. They lobby to allocate funds to research and develop a vaccine and to distribute nets and medication to vulnerable areas.
The story in Mary and Martha is heart-warming and leaves a lasting impact on the audience about the struggle of malaria in Africa. It is a moving depiction of the story of mothers who lost their sons to the disease and the lengths they went to make a change.
