Even for a person with no tattoos or piercings and little interest in goth pin-up culture, there’s plenty of interest to explore in American Mary. The story of a struggling medical student who more or less accidentally becomes a body modification expert, the sophomore effort from twin filmmakers Jen and Sylvia Soska is polished and smart.

American Mary is significant step up in quality from their debut, Dead Hooker In A Trunk, even when it fails to dissect the larger sociological context or even the direct emotional ramifications of its young protagonist’s unconventional career choice. Alternately creepy and languid, incisive and aimless, American Mary examines a provocative subject, heralding the duo as a couple of the genre’s next great voices – that is, as soon as their follow-through proves as strong as their set-up.

Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps) plays Mary Mason, an aspiring surgeon who turns to stripping...