''Silencing Mary'' is a 1998 American

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Craig R. Baxley Craig Redding Baxley (born October 20, 1949) is an American director, stunt coordinator, stunt performer and occasional actor. He is best known for his work in the action and thriller genres. Beginning his career as a stunt performer, he was ...

and written by Steve Johnson. It stars Melissa Joan Hart as a college newspaper reporter determined to get justice after her best friend is

raped Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or agai ...

by one of the school's star athletes. The film was produced by Hartbreak Films and

Viacom Productions Viacom Productions (formerly Viacom Enterprises) was a television production arm of Viacom International. The division was active from 1974 until 2004, when the company was folded into Paramount Network Television 10 years following Viacom's ac ...

and filmed in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. It aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in the United States on March 8, 1998.

Plot

Mary Stuartson is a college student who works as a reporter for the college newspaper. She is involved with a case, regarding possibly a few football players having hacked the computer of a professor to steal an upcoming test. Her best friend Holly is involved with one of the hackers, Billy, and one night at a party, she is

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

d by Clay Roberts, one of the athletes. She admits to Mary what happened, telling her that she tried to push him away and scream. She refuses to report it to the police and starts to think it was her own fault. She does go to the dean, however, but he seems to respond in Clay's favor. Holly took a test after the rape, for further proof, but she made the mistake of first taking a shower. Because of this, there is no physical evidence that she was raped. Holly tries to forget what happened, but Mary is determined that justice is served. She goes to the police, but they can't help her because the university system found Clay innocent. She discovers that last year, there were twenty-six reports of rapes, but only two of them resulted in charges. The mild university system frustrates Mary, and she thinks that Clay is especially treated softly because he is an important quarterback. She confronts him, but he states that Holly wanted to sleep with him and that he turned her down. She soon starts writing an article about the rape, but one of the student reports finds it and shows it to Clay. Not much later she is first attacked by a group of men wearing balaclavas. She is convinced Clay is responsible, but they all have alibis. Meanwhile, Holly starts receiving threat letters and she is almost going over the edge. Mary decides to quit the investigation, but she soon starts to feel as if she has failed. Her parents suggest her to apply for another university, offering their retirement money. Mary refuses, however, explaining she can't leave everything behind. It doesn't take long for Mary to start reporting again and from there on, the threats start coming again. This time Mary's boyfriend David is the victim, getting hard treatment from his fellow basketball players. Meanwhile, Mary angers the dean by printing an article in which she reveals that most rape reports last year didn't result in charges. As a response, her car is dumped at a nearby lake. Later, Holly announces she will drop out of college. Clay spots Billy talking to Mary and later gets mad at him. Billy confronts him with the rape, but Clay assures him he isn't guilty. Meanwhile, Mary finds the dress Holly wore on the night of the rape and brings it to the police. It is soon discovered that there are sperm samples on the dress. On the night of a big football game, Clay is arrested and Mary is able to stay in college.

Cast

* Melissa Joan Hart as Mary Stuartson *

Corin Nemec Joseph Charles Nemec IV (born November 5, 1971), known professionally as Corin Nemec, is an American actor, producer, and screenwriter. He was billed as Corin "Corky" Nemec or Corky Nemec until 1990. Nemec is known for playing the title characte ...

as David McPherson *

Lisa Dean Ryan Lisa Dean Ryan (born April 30, 1972) is an American actress. She played Wanda Plenn, the girlfriend of the eponymous character in the series ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', appearing in the series from 1989 to 1992.Gene I. Maeroff, Gene ed. (1998). Educ ...

as Holly Sherman * Peter MacNicol as Lawrence Dixon *

James McDaniel James McDaniel Jr. (born March 25, 1958) is an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known for playing Lt. Arthur Fancy on the television show ''NYPD Blue''. He created the role of Paul in the hit Lincoln Center play '' Six Degr ...

as Professor Thiel *

Josh Hopkins William Joshua Hopkins (born September 12, 1970) is an American actor. Some of his best known roles include Raymond Millbury on '' Ally McBeal'' (2001–2002), Grayson Ellis on '' Cougar Town'' (2009–2015), and Liam O'Connor on '' Quantico'' ( ...

as Clay Roberts *

Lochlyn Munro Lochlyn Munro (born February 12, 1966) is a Canadian actor. His most notable film roles include ''A Night at the Roxbury'' (1998), ''Scary Movie'' (2000), ''Freddy vs. Jason'' (2003), ''White Chicks'' (2004), '' The Predator'' (2018) and ''Cosm ...

as Billy *

Teryl Rothery Teryl Rothery is a Canadian actress of stage, television, and film. She is best known for portraying Janet Fraiser in the TV series ''Stargate SG-1''. She co-starred as Grace Sherman in '' Cedar Cove'', and has had major roles as Muriel in ''Vi ...

as Brubaker *

Garry Chalk Garry Chalk is a British-born Canadian actor. He has provided the voices for Optimus Primal of '' Beast Wars: Transformers'' and ''Beast Machines'', as well as Optimus Prime in the anime English dubs of '' Transformers: Armada'', ''Transformer ...

as Gardner *Colin Lawrence as Augie *Dale Wilson as Jefferson * Susan Hogan as Helen Stuartson *

Tobias Mehler Tobias Mehler (born April 1, 1976) is a Canadian actor who has appeared in film and television productions. Career Mehler is known for playing d'Artagnan on ''Young Blades'', Zak Adama on '' Battlestar Galactica'' and Lieutenant Graham Simmons ...

as Jesse * Kevin McNulty as Tom Stuartson *

Emily Hart Emily Anne Hart is an American former actress. She is the younger sister of actress Melissa Joan Hart and is best known for her roles as Sabrina Spellman in ''Sabrina: The Animated Series'' and Amanda Wiccan in ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996 ...

as Bobbi Stuartson

Production

''Silencing Mary'', originally titled ''Campus Justice'', was based on an idea by star Melissa Joan Hart's sister Trisha Hart, who is credited as co-producer. The film was produced for

by Hartbreak Films, headed by their mother Paula Hart, in association with

. Filming took place in

in May 1997.

References

External links

* {{Craig R. Baxley 1998 films 1998 television films 1990s English-language films Films about rape Films directed by Craig R. Baxley Films scored by Gary Chang Films set in universities and colleges Films shot in Vancouver NBC network original films Viacom Pictures films