Director Sean Durkin's debut, "Martha Marcy May Marlene," tells the story of Martha (Elizabeth Olsen), a woman who decides to join a cult led by a man named Patrick (John Hawkes). The film cuts between Martha's time in the cult and her time staying with her sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) and brother-in-law Ted (Hugh Dancy) at their summer home.
At the beginning of the film, Martha escapes a cult and desperately calls Lucy to pick her up. Though Martha initially resists Lucy coming to get her, she eventually caves and goes with her to the summer home. The rest of the movie focuses on Martha's struggle to cope with her new surroundings, while flashing back to her experiences at the cult.
It's never explained what the main purpose of the cult is, but it is pretty clear their agenda isn't for the benefit of the women. Martha learns every woman has to sleep with Patrick on her first night in the cult and when answering the phone, every woman has to answer as Marlene Lewis.
As the movie continues, Martha suffers from deep emotional scarring from the cult, so much so that she cannot understand cultural norms anymore. Martha has been so socially defused that she thinks it's OK to crawl into bed with Lucy and Ted while they are having sex.
These scenes create a tone of insecurity that fits well with the story. We never know more than Martha does, and we certainly share her confusion. This creates a very existential feel to the film.
The performances in "Martha Marcy May Marlene" are outstanding. Olsen and Hawkes are brilliant provide a solid foundation for the rest of the film. Olsen is the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, though with this role she may soon overshadow her famous sisters. She does fantastic job of creating a childlike, yet complex character that the audience has no choice but to emotionally connect to her.
Hawkes continues to impress with his performance. Last year, he was outstanding as Teardrop in "Winter's Bone," and he follows up with an equally great performance here. As Patrick, he is seductive, yet very dangerous. His performance captures the balance between crazy and charismatic that a cult leader would seemingly have to utilize.
The direction, from a technical standpoint, is fairly impressive. A lot of the individual shots are beautiful and every scene unfolds nicely. The decision to show the story in fragments between each location is interesting, although sometimes I'm not sure if it was the best. It does a decent job of juxtaposing her experiences in both places, but I think we could have gotten the same effect from a linear narrative. I think this style may do a better job of creating tension and showing Martha's transgression as she tries to integrate back into society.
My biggest complaint about this movie is the overarching purpose of it all. We see Martha struggling to recover from her experience with the cult and come back to a normal setting, but the film never really tells us why we are seeing this. I simply could not understand what Durkin was trying to tell us with this story. I was also very let down by the film's ending. Normally I like ambiguous endings, but I don't feel like the movie had enough resolutions in the story to earn an ambiguous ending. It felt like a cheap way to evoke an emotional response from the audience. I certainly don't think that was the case, but it didn't reward the audience for watching the film.
Overall, I thought "Martha Marcy May Marlene" was a good, but not great, movie. It is a good start for director Durkin and I would think he has a bright future. Olsen and Hawkes will probably nab Oscar nominations come late January. Their performances alone make watching this film enjoyable, even if the film's plot leaves a little to be desired. "Martha Marcy May Marlene" is a limited release, playing mostly in art theaters. If you want to see it, you will probably have to travel to Indianapolis, I would personally recommend the Landmark Keystone Art Cinema.
"Martha Marcy May Marlene" receives a 7/10.
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