Customer Reviews
By
Joshua Miller "Josh" (Coeur d'Alene,ID) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE)
A young woman called Marcy May (played by newcomer Elizabeth Olsen, remember her name) flees from an abusive cult and calls her sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) to pick her up. Her sister, who calls her Martha, hasn't seen her in over a year and finds Martha deliberately vague about where she has been. Lucy brings her to the large home she shares with her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy) and Martha's time in the cult is revealed through intercut flashbacks. Branded Marcy May by Patrick (John Hawkes), the charismatic leader, the commune con sists of few men and many women, most from troubled backgrounds. The women are assigned individual duties, but the one they all share is to sleep with Patrick. The film wisely avoids giving too many details about the cult itself and what its basis is, but fills in all the necessary details otherwise.This 2011 indie thriller marks the debut of writer/director Sean Durkin who has fashioned a quiet, powerful psychological drama that introduces the world to a terrific new actress. Elizabeth Olsen, the younger sister of two very famous twins, turns in a bold, Oscar-caliber piece of acting that allows her to successfully break from the stigma of having world-famous siblings. She's a remarkable talent and establishes her own niche as an actress, becoming a star on her own terms. The film is strong on its own merits, but, once you've seen it, it's hard to forget Olsen and even easier to forget her famous sisters.This is a terrific debut for Durkin. Labeled as a thriller, it moves in a low-key fashion that doesn't go for easy "thrills" and instead opts for a deeply unsettling tone. The story, which uses shifting timelines in an intentionally disorienting way, never clues you in to where it's heading, but holds your attention rapt getting there. Juxtaposing this with the somber mood and static cinematography, Martha Marcy May Marlene is riveting.Fresh off an Oscar nomination, John Hawkes is quietly sinister as Patrick. Rather than playing the cult leader as flamboyant or inherently crazy, Hawkes plays him as a soft-spoken, gentle figure and comes off as so creepy without ever trying. Physically, it's not a radical departure from his powerful, Oscar-nominated role as Teardrop in Winter's Bone but the performances are wildly different. Hawkes has been active for a long time, but it's been a mesmerizing ride watching him grow into his own as an actor, tackling such varied roles across different genres. He proves with each new performance to have an incredib le amount of range and I believe his best work may still be ahead of him. With this and Winter's Bone he's showing himself as a force to be reckoned with. Choosing subtlety over bravura, rarely breaking from the soft-spoken creature he establishes, it's triumphant how his characterization of Patrick convincingly allows his presence to hang over the movie in the same way it hangs over Martha. Like Olsen, his performance is Oscar-caliber but perhaps too subtle to capture the eye of Academy voters.This brings me back to Elizabeth Olsen. A beautiful woman in a strangely unique way, she has a very child-like look that betrays the amount of emotion she's capable of conveying. It probably helps the quality of her performance, making it so much more unexpected. She really plays this role beautifully and bravely where another actress in her position could've unwisely taken an easy route and capitalized on her name rather than her talent. It appears that Olsen has honed her craft and waited for the right opportunity to strike. Considering she gives one of the most depressing, daring, and impressive performances of 2011, she has made the right decision. This is an actress going places.Martha Marcy May Marlene is less a thriller than a riveting, psychological portrait. It's distinctly separate from a Hollywood film, but too sophisticated for the indie label. Durkin's film is brave and unflinching, a film that could have only been made on the indie circuit. This is not because of the film's controversial elements, which aren't too graphic, but the way he unwaveringly looks at the effect the cult has had on Martha and refuses to betray the very realistic scenario. The film's final shot is abrupt and ambiguous, but far from anticlimactic. An obvious metaphor, it brings just the right amount of closure that can be afforded to this story and character. An obvious metaphor, yes, but certainly not an ineffective one. This shot is frightening and unforgettable; a brave, sad ending to the film. It's so deceptively simple, yet towering in its impact. I know this may give the impression that the film ends violently, but it creates more paranoia with a simple, unmoving shot than anything horrific could have. Martha Marcy May Marlene is a late inclusion to my top ten list and is one of the best films of 2011, with a star-making performance by a most unexpected actress.GRADE: A-
By
D. C. Ober "Audiophile" (Boston, MA) (REAL NAME)
Martha Marcy May Marlene marks the debut of two talents, the director, Sean Durkin, and the actress, Elizabeth Olsen. Both actor and director show a kind of assured performance that seems relegated to those wh o are either new to a scene, when talent has been building up for some time and only now has had a chance to unveil itself, or to older creative types, who have enough success behind them that they no longer fear failure (the in-between is usually the tricky part). Elizabeth Olsen (and here I'm required to tell you that she is the younger sister to the famed Full House Olsen twins) plays Martha, a girl who has spent an indeterminate amount of time in a cult hidden away in upstate New York. She eventually flees the confines of the commune and is taken in by her sister and brother-in-law who own a spacious lake house in Connecticut.From here the film is divided into two narratives, one chronicling Martha's ordeal in the Manson-like collective and the other detailing her return to polite society at her sister's place. We learn from the former narrative that the cult takes in runaways and is overseen by a charismatic leader, Patrick, played by John Hawkes. While the cult members bandy about pseudo-New Wave jargon, we hear talk of energies, the specific philosophy of the cult remains vague. As one might expect, Patrick has intimate access to most of the women, as do the other men on the compound, to varying degrees. The cult members share duties taking care of children and tending to a garden, and they hope one day to go fully off the grid.The second narrative follows Martha as she attempts to reconnect with her sister Lucy and return to normalcy. For Martha, the lake house is an even more foreign world than the cult. She still plays by the rules set up for her by Patrick. She goes skinny dipping in the middle of the day. And when she feels lonely in her bedroom, she has no qualms about lying down on the foot of Lucy's bed, even if her sister is in mid-coitus. As Martha's actions become increasingly bizarre, her brother-in-law puts more pressure on Lucy to hand her sister over to an institution. As we learn what Martha has gone through, it becomes m ore and more difficult to sympathize with Lucy and her husband's frustrations. But while Lucy's husband, Ted, often comes off as a prick (tellingly, he has a well enunciated British accent), it is hard to blame Lucy's reticence to take on the responsibility of handling Martha on her own.Even though the two narratives are chronologically back to back--the story of Martha's time in the cult followed by her time with her sister--neither is prized over the other. In fact, it is difficult for me to describe events that occur at the compound as flashbacks because for Martha these events do not exist in the past. She carries the trauma with her. Durkin, the director, excises most establishing shots from the movie, making it difficult to tell whether the next scene begins at the lake house or the compound. The title of the film is a series of names the main character goes by. Her birth name is obviously Martha. She is given the name Marcy May by Patrick when she joins the cult. And Marlene is a communal name used by all the women in the cult to answer the phone. Martha is a woman who has been stripped of her ego and exists in the liminal space between "is" and "was."Elizabeth Olsen does a fantastic job of portraying a woman who has undergone immense pain. While this trauma does not always manifest itself, it always lingers underneath the surface of her performance. Likewise, Durkin imbues even the most mundane scenes with a sense of tension. It is far, far too early to tell where either Olsen or Durkin's career will go at this point, but I would be interested in seeing the two work together again. Regardless, I have a feeling plenty more will come from both of these talents.
By
Tony Heck "Follow me on Twitter!!! - @panther... (Belgrade, MT USA)
"We all love each other very much, we're all together on this, you have to trust us. Do you believe me?" Martha (Olsen) is brought by a new friend to a farm. After a night she will never forget she is told how great it is and is told what to do with her life. After finally breaking out she tries to start her life over with her sister and brother-in-law but her old life is still haunting her. This is a very great, powerful and disturbing movie all in one. Elizabeth Olsen gives an amazing performance and in one movie breaks out of her sisters' shadows in a big way and to me shows something they never have shown...talent. This movie is hard to watch in a few spots but well worth it. This is not a movie for everyone as it is a little slow and a borderline "art-house" type movie but it is a movie that will also appeal to a lot of people. This is a rare type of movie that seems like it tries to win an Oscar, but is actually good and deserves it. Overall, not a movie for everyone, but those that watch it and understand it will love it. I give it a B+.
By
Steven Adam Renkovish (SC)
Sean Durkin's film debut, `Martha Marcy May Marlene', was a hit with the indie crowd at Sundance this year, winning the U.S. Director's Award for Best Drama. After much acclaim in the film festival circuit, `Martha Marcy May Marlene' has been given a wide release. It is also one of the best films of the year.The story focuses on a young girl named Martha, who escapes from a manipulative, abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains. Her estranged older sister picks her up at a gas station three hours away from the location of the aforementioned cult, and insists that Martha stay with she and her husband. All the while, Martha beg ins to unravel emotionally, as well as psychologically. The film blends past with present, bending the narrative so that you are seeing the world through Martha's eyes in all of its twisted confusion. While her sister and her brother-in-law desperately try to unveil her many secrets, Martha is haunted by a lingering sense of paranoia, as she fears the "family" from which she escaped may come back for her any minute.This is not an easy film to watch. The scenes of emotional abuse and brainwashing are powerfully raw. However, this film attempts to bring to the surface issues which are shockingly relevant. The film is anchored by two excellent performances by Elizabeth Olsen as Martha and John Hawkes as cult leader, Patrick. Sean Durkin is a filmmaker to watch. This is an extraordinarily strong debut.
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