MARTYRS LANE

 

Going in to watching “Martyrs Lane”, I basically knew nothing other than that it was a horror film, and that it had been well received at this year's Fantasia Film Festival. I hadn't watched a trailer nor seen a poster for it, so I went into it as fresh as you could get. By the end of it, I had been totally bowled over by this delicate and subtle ghost story that, while I would still classify it as horror, is really about the fragility of life, and just how hard it is to move on with life when filled with such terrible grief.

Ten year old Leah lives with her older sister and parents at the local church, where her father works. While she has a close relationship with her dad, Leah always feels a distance from her mother. Fascinated by the locket that her mother always wears around her neck, the young girl steals the mysterious keepsake one night when her curiosity becomes too much. When she opens the locket, the precious contents blow out her bedroom window, which is the catalyst for her family's past to awaken once more. Leah is soon visited at her bedroom window by a young girl dressed in an angel's costume, who claims to be Leah's guardian angel. Leah does not believe the angel, who tries to convince her through the children's game of “two truths, one lie”. She tells Leah three things, with one of them being exactly where to find the object she has lost, which begins a kind of treasure hunt for the young girl that will ultimately unlock the past she never knew about.

This is such a beautiful film that I immediately fell in love with it. Whilst I normally try to keep away from spoilers in my reviews for new release films, I think it will be hard to talk about what I found so great about “Martyrs Lane” without going into certain details that would be considered spoilers, so I suggest that if you want to go into the film as blind as possible, then to stop reading this review and only return to it once you have watched the film yourself. In other words “SPOILER WARNING!!”

As I mentioned above, I had no idea what type of horror story I was walking into with “Martyrs Lane”, but it turned out to be the most beautiful ghost story, reminiscent of Guillermo Del Toro's “The Devil's Backbone”. This apt comparison has to do with the fact that the ghosts in both films are not insidious in nature, but are more representations of ghosts of the past. “Martyrs Lane” is the rare quiet and sensitive type of horror film, that is very slowly paced and is more about the unfolding of a mystery as opposed to focusing on blood or scares. It has been beautifully directed by Ruth Platt (who also wrote the film), who has created a magical, fairy tale atmosphere and aesthetic for her film, that suits the story wonderfully. I loved the way she slowly opened up the story to us, as we only learn things about the past as young Leah does herself. The whole thing unfolds so naturally and never feels forced. I also loved the way Platt was able to use misdirection in a way that you kept you on edge as to where the story was going, only to pull the rug out from under you when the truth is revealed. Not only that, but when the truth does come out and you re-evaluate all these other scenes with this new information, you can see that Platt never once cheated with these scenes and that they still make perfect sense. You always sense something is going on, and it feels like that it could involve a cult or something like that, but the truth ends up being much simpler and normal but no less rewarding.

The film is superbly acted by everyone, but especially so by the two young girls who play Leah and her guardian angel (Kiera Thompson and Sienna Sayer respectively). Having two children lead your film, I imagine would be a scary prospect, but both girls are wonderful in their roles. They both have an innocence to them especially when they are giggling and playing games together. I suppose it will be no surprise to anyone that the guardian angel is actually the ghost of the film, and her identity is the core mystery. Whilst it appears to Leah that the games they are playing together are there to help her find the contents of her mother's locket that she lost, in actual fact, the angel is giving her clues that will reveal who she is and what happened to her. It appears everyone has a lot to hide, particularly the mother, as the worry on their faces indicate when these clues and objects start to resurface. I must say that I absolutely loved the design of the angel. She looks dead, broken, decaying and cold, and yet has a sweet fairy tale quality to her too. Ironically, she comes across as the more alive of the two girls. Leah on the other hand has been brought up in a strict, religious household, with her mother being particularly hard on her. Therefore it takes a little longer for Leah to loosen up and have fun with her new friend, but as the movie goes on, the two start playing like sisters. This is clearly something that Leah has been yearning for, as her older sister is at the age where she is just about to leave for college, and thus has little time for her other than to bully or harass her.

The visual side of “Martyrs Lane” is just sublime, with lovely earthy cinematography (again, evoking the fairy tale look). The film is also filled with a large number of mirror shots, either the image being shot off of the mirror, or important objects or people being visible in mirrors within a certain shot. The mirror imagery also has a point to it which is explained via a line of dialogue spoken by the mother late in the film. A personal visual fetish I love in films is curtain imagery, where characters wrap their faces or bodies in sheer curtains almost like a wedding veil, and this film has many of those images which all have to do with the guardian angel. I have no idea why I find these images so beautiful, but they never fail to impress me when they show up in a film. I also thought the production design of the film, particularly the house, was very impressive. It gave the world an old feel, almost like time had stopped still for a while in the house.

I think the place where people may be disappointed in “Martyrs Lane” is in its classification of being a horror film. After having this discussion many times, I know most people often define “horror films” as ones that are focused on blood, gore and murder. Slasher or body count films seem to be the definitive definition of horror, particularly to those who are not huge horror fans. Personally I believe horror can be so much more than that, and my definition of the genre is much, much broader. However, I believe most people will be disappointed in the fact that “Martyrs Lane” is far less concerned with blood and guts, and more with atmosphere, suspense, and the real life horrors of dealing with grief. This film is often what I describe as “horror-lite” in that it has limited scare scenes, but these scenes are very successful and are so because they happen off-beat. What I mean by this is that, after watching as many horror films as I have, you notice that scares play out like music, in that you know exactly what beat the scare will take place on. However Ruth Platt has brilliantly constructed her scare moments to take place “off-beat”, either just before or after a scare would normally take place, thus catching me off guard and being very effective for it. The only place I feel “Martyrs Lane” makes a mistake, and feels forced, is the two brief moments when the angel becomes somewhat demonic and aggressive. It doesn't feel real within the world that has been set up previous, and almost feels like it has been added only to appease the horror fans. These moments just do not work for me, but they are the only misstep of the film.

SPOILER WARNING! SPOILER WARNING! SPOILER WARNING! I am now going to talk about the devastating truth and ending to “Martyrs Lane”, so again if you do not want to know the truth about the film STOP READING NOW!! While it appears that everyone has something to hide, and there is some big conspiracy regarding the murder of this girl which the church may or may not be behind, the truth is so much simpler, and so heartbreaking because of it. The Angel turns out to be Leah's sister, Rachel, she never knew she had, because she died on the same day Leah was born. Her pregnant mother went into early labour after hearing the terrible news of Rachel's death via a hit/run accident. Having a terrible tragedy occur at the same time as one of the greatest moments of her life (one child died as the other was born), the poor mother had no idea how to react and basically shut down from life, which is the reason why she is so cold towards Leah. The rest of the family decide to no longer talk about Rachel, and to hide the truth from the youngest child, due to the pain it brings with it, which is why they are all so shocked when Leah keeps turning up with objects from Rachel's life. However all the ghost/angel wants is for the mother to say her name again, to not forget her, so she can move on to her next life, which is the whole reason behind the treasure hunt she sets up for Leah. Oh my god! This is the most tragic and painful ending imaginable. You feel this so much more than any silly slasher film! When the mother finally confronts her past and demons, and explains to Leah exactly what happened, she also gives the most perfect description on the fragility of life and how quickly it can all change and be taken away. She explains that life changed as quickly as “the snapping of chalk”, which really resonated with me. The whole film ends with the most devastatingly beautiful montage of Rachel's life, with the objects that Leah finds all being a part of it. END OF SPOILERS!!

Overall, I was so impressed by this little British horror film; I had no idea what I was walking into, but it exceeded my expectations by far. It has a wonderful fairy tale atmosphere to it, and although it is light on the horror, what scare scenes there are, are very effective. Beautifully shot and designed, it is one of those rare horror films that you feel a long time after it is over. While it is technically a ghost story, it is really a family tale with a ghost, but ultimately “Martyrs Lane” is about trauma, the pain of life, and grief. It will not be for everyone, especially due to its languid pace, but for me, I thought it was absolutely brilliant and a very pleasant surprise.

4 Stars.