"Martha Marcy May Marlene" - Film Review

Ever have one of those days where you feel as if you're losing time. Like you're in a fog. Martha Marcy May Marlene is at once about that experience for a young woman.

Martha escapes from a cult who has indoctrinated and brainwashed her. It's never entirely clear why Martha (assumed name at this communal society Marcy May) joins this cult or even how she met them. What is clear though is that it's been an understandably traumatic experience; one met with violence, rape, and patriarchal subordination.

She flees at the break of dawn from the shared home and makes a dash for the woods. She gets out by the skin of her teeth, and calls her long estranged sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson). Her sister comes and picks her up to stay at her vacation home with her and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy). Here she begins recalling the events from her time with the cult; they come to her like half-forgotten dreams.

The film is at times intentionally confusing and opaque. It keeps jumping back and forth in time between the present where Martha is all but on the verge of a mental breakdown and the past where we come to understand why she's so unstable. It's never entirely stated why certain weird, erratic behaviors are being taken by Martha. Part of it is her simply readjusting to normal life and part of it is her coming to terms with her time with the cult, but some behaviors are a bit more open to interpretation as to what exactly is setting her off.

The film is filled with a number of great supporting performance, including John Hawkes as the cult leader,  but the real power to the film, and how realistically uncomfortable it is at times, is Elizabeth Olsen's exceptional performance in the central role. Olsen demonstrates an amazing ability to handle a range of complicated emotions.

The more time we spend with Martha, the more we plunge into her fractured psyche and the more the film becomes highly unsettling. This is a psychological drama that disturbs us because it's all too real; it's all so very sadly plausible.

Carried by the phenomenal debut performance by Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene is a gripping, chilling drama, fascinating exploration of cults, and an unsettling portrait of a mental breakdown.   

Grade: A-