MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE - MIFF 2011

In the early morning, we are witness to Martha escaping from a cult that she has got herself mixed up with.  She flees through the nearby forest with her “family” members hot on her tail.  She ends up eluding them and makes it to the nearest town, where she calls her sister (who she hasn’t spoken to for two years – the time she was with the cult).  Knowing something is up, her sister Lucy drives the three hours needed to pick up Martha and bring her back to her house.  Initially Martha seems fine (she lies and explains to her sister that she broke up with her boyfriend and thus had to move out of where she was staying), however as time goes on, and her memories begin to merge with the present, it is obvious that everything is not okay, and that Martha is in fact a very sick girl.  Tensions start to arise between the sisters and Lucy’s husband, as Martha’s behavior becomes more and more destructive.  They know something has happened to Martha and that she is scared of something but she refuses to explain or tell the truth about what happened.

The film alternates between the past and present (via the use of some very nice transitions), as we see just what Martha went through and did while being a member of the cult, which leads up to the reason why she finally had to escape from it.  It is obvious that she has been brainwashed by Patrick, the leader of the cult, and his ideals as we hear Martha recite certain lines back to her sister, word for word the way they have been taught her.  (“I am a teacher and a leader”).  

While this is actually quite a good film, especially with the dealing of Martha and her deteriorating mental state whilst trying to fit back in to normal society, something about this film just rubbed me the wrong way.  It was the way the film was shot which just seemed to be constantly ogling the body of main actress Elizabeth Olsen.  Maybe it was just me, but it felt like every angle was chosen to best show off and accentuate Martha’s curves in an attempt to titillate.  It actually made me feel uncomfortable and it became counterproductive to the story it was trying to tell.

Speaking of Elizabeth Olsen, she puts in a fantastic performance as Martha, especially near the end as she reaches breaking point.  This is a complex role with many layers, but Olsen pulls it off expertly, and I think she will be a big star in the future.  Although I had heard a lot of great things about John Hawkes (as Patrick) performance in this film, he just didn’t blow me away in this like he did in last year’s “Winter Bone”.  He was fine here, but nothing more.  Overall while I did have issues with this film (seriously I have heard nobody else complain about what I have, so it may be just my problem) I would still recommend it as a good psychological thriller / drama.

3.5 Stars.