1. MarcDoyle

   9

   I'm giving this film a slightly higher score than I think it deserves simply for the intense, disturbing feeling it left me with. The film's structure - which tells a tale in sort of a double-helix structure, alternating between a girl's time in a Utopian cult and her time with her sister and the sister's new husband after fleeing from the cult - is effectively spun. It doesn't knock you over the head with it's bluntness. It becomes more and more stressful as you see more of both stories. John Hawkes and Sarah Paulson are uniformly terrific as the dominant supporting characters on opposite sides of the film's divide. And Elizabeth Olsen is clearly a rising star, though I don't think she's as effective in this role as someone like Jennifer Lawrence is in Winter's Bone - a film that I think will be compared to this one by many. The ending of the film will certainly have you talking with whomever you go to the movie with - so go with somebody "with it." Now that I've dwelt on it a bit more, a think a 9 is appropriate. See it.… Expand

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2. JollyG87

   5

   While this is getting rave reviews, I personally had a miserable time with "Martha Marcy May Marlene." First of all, in any movie the characters need to go through some kind of transformation so we can understand what they're going through. In a way, Martha does change. There are a series of flashbacks that show her happy and carefree as she settles into the cult of a sex crazed looney. Then we see her psychologically damaged after she's escaped and living with her sister. But the movie establishes these two sides of Martha early on and very little is done in the end to give us a complete picture of who Martha is as a person. I also didn't care too much for the outcome of her character. While Elizabeth Olsen gives a knockout debut performance, I found her character to be very self-centered and foolish. First, she was stupid to have joined the cult and believe all of the stupid babble the leader spewed on her. Then she refuses to even hint at what happened to her with her sister. I understand that a person would have a hard time opening up about traumatic events, but they at least need to understand that she's been through some messed up times. She never lets them know. It becomes very frustrating to deal with. Then to top it all off, the movie ends at a random point. I felt like I went through enough trouble in this film to get some kind of conclusion, but the movie leaves us with none. I saw a lot of similarities between "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Take Shelter," but the biggest differences for me were the characters and execution. The characters in "Take Shelter" were compelling enough that it could end on a cliffhanger and get away with it. The characters in " Martha" on the other hand, were rather unlikable. Also, the ending is beautifully executed in "Take Shelter," while in "Marcy" the movie ends like the projectionist forgot to put on the last reel.… Expand

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3. CitizenCharlie

   3

   Martha Marcy May Marlene continuously cuts back and forth between past and present. However, the audience could have used a lot more past and a bit more present to help understand more about Martha (Elizabeth Olsen). The past shows Martha’s introduction to a reclusive cult deep in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York. The present reveals it is two years later, Martha has decided to escape the cult, and shacks up with her sister and brother-in-law in an upscale Connecticut lakeside community. First time feature writer/director Sean Durkin is a bit manipulative with his script and shot choices. Frequently, you have to wait a moment or two to figure out if this new scene is in the past or present; it shows early on he is going to play with your mind to make you guess what it is until a character walks on screen. This mirrors what is supposedly going on in Martha’s head; she is having some major psychological trouble differentiating between her present surroundings and her experiences from the past two years. It is up to the audience to interpret how Martha wound up in the company of the cult; the film does not show you that. Also, Martha must be extremely naïve, gullible, or downright accepting of cultish behavior because her assimilation is quite easy. Sharing beds, clothes, household chores, and each other’s bodies comes quite naturally to her. Even after a drugging and rape, Martha just shrugs it off as her introduction to the ‘family’. Through conversations with her sister in the present, you learn mom died young and dad is never mentioned but her early childhood experiences do not sound very much like they were setting young Martha up to be swallowed up by rapist farmers. Back to the manipulation. Both segments, past and present, start very much in serene settings. The commune Martha joins is very accepting, calm, and the people provide a lot of compliments about her strong character and leadership skills. The present segment is on a beautiful lake in a gigantic house with supportive relatives. Then each respective scene adds an unsettling layer until by the end, these troubling and disturbing layers feel crushing. Events at the commune upset Martha to the point of breaking down and events in the present lake house are all of Martha’s doing because she has brought some extreme paranoia and cascading delusions with her after her escape. I do not recommend this film. The director made some creative editing choices and is very effective at building suspense, but that is all it is. The ability to muster unrelenting suspense and dread is not the only element to make an effective movie. I became very tired of watching Martha heap abuse and vitriol at her relatives who put up her ridiculous behavior much longer than most people would. I also grew impatient watching Martha get sucked into a cult through outrageously obvious maneuvers. Why is the film world falling in love with Martha? Almost every critic lauds its suspense and acting, Durkin won Best Director at Sundance, and it was included in the Cannes Un Certain Regard section. For Elizabeth Olsen, it was a very impressive first role, but I disagree that she has done anything amazing here. She spends the majority of the movie just looking sheepish around John Hawkes and annoyed at her relatives. Break out of the spell Martha Marcy May Marlene is trying to ensnare you in. Perhaps it is a cult itself and you do not realize how deep you are being manipulated by it until the preposterous and absurd ending.… Expand

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