Film Review: Martha Marcy May Marlene

Director: Sean Durkin

I actually thought about a year ago that a film about escaping a cult would be an interesting idea, if I was any good at writing screenplays then I might have gone with it but thanks to Martha Marcy May Marlene I don't. The film stars Elizabeth Olsen (the youngest of the Olsen sisters but don't judge her based on that) and is directed as well as written by Sean Durkin. This was the first film he has directed and won the award for best dramatic director at the Sundance Film Festival.

Cult leader Patrick (John Hawkes) and Martha (Elizabeth Olsen)

(May be a few spoilers) The film opens with Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) escaping from a cult in the Catskill Mountains in the north-west corner of New York state. She calls her older sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) to come and rescue her so that the people from the cult; led by Patrick (played with creepiness and warmth by John Parkes). As the film progresses, Martha descends into paranoia that the cult is trying to find her and take her back whilst we have flashbacks to what happened at the cult as it became more violent and unpleasant (watch out for the cleansing ritual for new members).

The ending is actually quite clever so I will try my best not to spoil it for you. Whilst being a tense film that delves into the fear of not knowing what is happening rather than letting you see everything that is happening, it is an interesting insight into how people re-adjust coming back into the normal world after being somewhere with quite different rules. Martha constantly breaks social convention by feeling its ok to lie on the bed next to Lucy and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy) whilst they are having sex and asking for permission to do anything that she wants to do.

Martha and Lucy (Sarah Paulson)

Elizabeth Olsen puts in a very good performance as the paranoid and socially maladjusted Martha but John Parkes portrays every side of a manipulative cult leader to perfection which even leads to comparisons to Charles Manson by some critics. At times he is hypnotic in his control over the people in the cult, especially the women.

My big question that was left un-answered was why did Patrick start the cult and what is he aiming to do? Many will argue that this being open to interpretation is a good thing but knowing his motives would help to understand the whole film better and why they engage in certain activities. You are sometimes left wondering why Lucy and Ted don't seek professional psychological help early on in the film as Martha's behaviour is bizarre throughout but I guess they didn't want to give up on her.

3/4 tense and un-nerving but left us in the dark just too much as the film progressed.