Martha Marcy May Marlene

[mochakitty]

From Wikipedia:

Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy. The plot focuses on a young woman suffering from delusions and paranoia after returning to her family from an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains.

Plot

The film focuses on Martha (Elizabeth Olsen), a young woman who flees from an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains that is led by an enigmatic leader, Patrick (John Hawkes). Lucy (Sarah Paulson), Martha's older sister, receives a call from a pay phone one day from Martha, asking her to come and get her. Martha, who has been missing for two years, slowly begins to assimilate into her sister's family, but her increasing paranoia leads her to believe that Patrick and his cult may still be watching her every move.

Cast

Elizabeth Olsen as Martha
John Hawkes as Patrick
Sarah Paulson as Lucy
Hugh Dancy as Ted
Brady Corbet as Watts
Christopher Abbott as Max
Michael Chmiel as Scruffy man
Maria Dizzia as Katie
Julia Garner as Sarah
Louisa Krause as Zoe

Release

Martha Marcy May Marlene premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January, with Durkin winning the festival's U.S. Directing Award for Best Drama. It also screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. The film had a limited release in the United States on October 21, 2011.

Reception

The film has received mostly positive reviews; it holds an 88% "fresh" rating (Fresh 110/Rotten 15) on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus capsule stating, "Led by a mesmerizing debut performance from Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene is a distinctive, haunting psychological drama." On Metacritic, the film has a 75 out of 100 "Metascore".

In its opening weekend in limited release, Martha Marcy May Marlene grossed $137,651 in the United States.

Official Site

Trailer

Poster

Official Facebook

Martha Marcy May Marlene @ IMDB.com

[satellite]

I thought this was really good with the cult storyline. Though at points it reminded me a bit of other "upper-middle class East coast liberal dysfunctional family in the summer" indies like Rachel Getting Married.

[canuckcutie]

I saw it at the Toronto filmfest. I thought Elizabeth Olsen was terrific in this. She really holds your attention on screen,

I thought they did a great job of showing how she was immersed into the cult over time so that their behavior & expectations became the norm for her. It was really unsettling to see how her individuality was stripped away from her. The tone of the movie was definitely unsettling and it stayed with me for a while afterwards.

[magazinewhore]

I saw this twice (once with AM and once with a friend). It's an interesting movie. I was really impressed by Olsen's performance. It was definitely unsettling. I thought they did a nice job dissecting how abuse works on a person slowly over time. I didn't LOVE it (there were a few times I questioned her sister's actions), but I was engaged the whole time.

[Deleted]

Unsettling is right, John Hawkes was so scary in this. Elizabeth Olsen was amazing.

[bklynred]

I didn't like how good John Hawkes was in this; he plays a bad guy too well for my liking. This was interesting and yet I was expecting a little more of...something. Backstory, postscript, or something, I dunno. Martha's closedness was probably most realistic and yet was most frustrating. I liked the overlap of cult vs. reality like sharing a bed or thinking she needed to cook every day. Seeing her "handle" the new girl was heartbreaking.

Two questions: Will she be Marlene once she's out of whatever hospital she's going to? And also, was it implied that girl babies were either given away or gotten rid of somehow? I knew things would go downhill fast when I saw that they had guns. Cults and guns never mix well.

Great acting all around. I can see why arthouses would like this one.

[Deleted]

Marlene was the fake name the female cult members used when answering the phone at the compound, the men had a fake name too but I forget what it was. Martin maybe?

[bklynred]

Thanks roisin.

[Deleted]

Been wanting to see this for awhile, and I finally watched it. Elizabeth Olsen was wonderful and really compelling to watch onscreen, and the cult was SOO creepy, but the end was such a letdown for me! I really want to know what happened to Martha, and if her sister ever found out about the cult, and just more about Martha and Lucy and their family in general. And I wanted for something to happen to that dick Patrick. Booo.