By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25 cats
Director: Sam Oldmeadow | Tim O'Donnell
Year: 2026
Running time: 75
IMDB: https://www.thelastyztari.com/
Julie says: “THE LAST YZTARI tells the story of Mary Dague, a woman who lost both arms while diffusing bombs in Iraq (to protect a school), and her struggle to heal and redefine herself. She tried for many years to write her own story but found it too difficult. Instead, she secretly started writing a fictional story that came more easily for her and helped her begin to recover from the trauma and redefine herself. 18 years later with the latest advances in ai she’s found a way to visually and perhaps more realistically represent and intertwine her fictional characters and stories with her own. Intermixed with Mary’s story is that of James, her husband, sometimes caretaker, who is still working for the US Army in Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD). He leaves for extended periods time, in the form of 9 month tours. We later come to find out that James suffers from PTSD related to an experience he had years ago. They are also involved in the gaming community which the film touches upon. This is a story of strength and resilience. I fully admire the strength of both Mary and James and appreciated the chance to learn about the lives of these two very courageous people and their support systems.
“I felt there were many things internal to Mary that were incorporated into her ai world that were not fully explained. I wanted to see more of those connections and explanations in the movie. I know one fact in particular was mentioned in the q & a that was not shown in the game that would have been useful to have seen and have her talk about.
“The trailer for the movie closes with this haunting line by DANI, the artificial consciousness Mary created to watch over her fictional selves.
“‘We survive in fragments. Each piece forgetting it was whole. We weren’t meant to be alone.’
“Mary, James and the director did a Q & A aftwards, invited the audience to dinner with them and stayed after the Q & A to chat with those still hanging out.
“I found out then after chatting with Mary and then listening in while James held court in another side of the theater that, to my relief, James had retired.
“They were the nicest people and seemed very happy, content and empowered, which was very uplifting for me.
“The movie could have focused a bit more I think as mentioned above and some aspects that were all over the place could have been edited down to make room. I know the director mentioned many iterations so it could still happen. 3.25 cats“