A very intelligent and nuanced movie that relentlessly asks unpleasant questions. It’s a story about a woman seeking freedom by turning away from her own family and finding something she did not expect. The main character of the movie, Martha, is taken in by a cult and the movie depicts how this experience shapes and warps her life, thoughts, and actions. The time she spent with the cult ultimately also shapes her own personality, which raises questions about her identity and the place she now fits in. Every actor is well cast, and especially Elizabeth Olsen (playing Martha) puts on a stand-out performance, which proves that she is an actor to watch out for in the years to come.
"Like [Michael] Haneke, Durkin -- remarkably, making his first feature -- specializes not in apocalyptic grandeur but in the creak and the tinkle of the uncanny."
— Anthony Lane
"With a diegesis mapped along the mental contours of its protagonist, Martha Marcy May Marlene harkens back to Pasolini's notion of the cinema of poetry--and achieves it beautifully."
— Violet Lucca
After several years of living with a cult, Martha finally escapes and calls her estranged sister, Lucy, for help. Martha finds herself at the quiet Connecticut home Lucy shares with her new husband, Ted, but the memories of what she experienced in the cult make peace hard to find. As flashbacks continue to torment her, Martha fails to shake a terrible sense of dread, especially in regard to the cult's manipulative leader.
Cannes
1 win
Spirit Awards
4 nominations
Sundance
1 win
NYFCC
1 nomination
LAFCA
1 win
Enjoyed, especially if you have a fascination with cults.
This movie is one of this you watch on a Sunday, even though the subject is dark. The acting is wonderful.