'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

'Martha Marcy May Marlene' (R) (4 STARS) (Highest Rating)

Written and Directed By Sean Durkin
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy

The powerful, unsettling and haunting "Martha Marcy May Marlene" will not be a good time for some movie goers. It is a dark movie and it has an unconventional way to tell it's story and an ending that might frustrate some. I just know that it affected me more than any movie I have seen this year. It also has one of the best performances I have seen by an actress in her first starring role. It deals with a subject I am fascinated with and have studied for decades. I know it's subject matter well and this movie nails it perfectly without one false note.

The subject matter deals with a cult and how it affects our protagonist Martha during her time with the cult and what happens to her after she leaves it. The movie goes back and forth between Martha's stay at the commune where she is taken in and her life after she escapes and lives with her sister. The commune consists of a group of people and it's charismatic leader Patrick. It is a place sorrounded by a a large field and lots of nature. The people in this group make Martha feel wanted and needed. The women and men take turns doing certain chores and the women cook dinner. Strangely for such a bonded community the men eat first and then the women eat dinner after the men are finished.

We first meet the leader of this commune Patrick and he is trying to make Martha feel accepted and comfortable. It seems like Martha is in a place where she is sorrounded by friends and she looks happy. She also gets to take another young woman under her wings and become a teacher and leader. Though in an opening scene that starts the movie off powerfully she was calling her sister and Martha seems scared and unhappy. We learn that Martha is part of a cult but the movie doesn't use the term cult at all. That is because a cult would never call themselves a cult in real life. That would describe their group in a negative light when they see themselves as nurturing. The movie then shows what happens to Martha after her sister picks her up and she has to readjust to a normal life.

The movie flashes back and forth throughout from life in the cult to life with her sister after the cult. It seems that life with her sister after she leaves the cult does not fix Martha and make things better. Was the cult a good place for Martha where she is accepted more than she is from her sister? Where she feels a sense of belonging like part of a family? The movie unfolds in a subtle way at showing how this cult can't possibly be healthy for Martha. The movie doesn't have explosive and dramatic scenes and that is why I loved it. This is an unsettling movie that doesn't have any easy answers but it has a dynamic performance that I will never forget.

Elizabeth Olsen gives a natural, intense and smart performance as Martha and we never see her acting. It is a nuanced performance that feels just right and it will be one of the best performances you will see by any young actress today. Writer and Director Sean Durkin knows his subject matter and his story is carefully told without any false moves. I have studied cults extensively for years and I have been fascinated by the subject. It is a tough subject to portray right and "Martha Marcy" gets everything right. I was impressed on how the movie told a story that was real and that makes it even more powerful.

Cults take naive and young adults, especially young women, who have low self esteeem. It deprives them of protein and fills their minds with thoughts of love and acceptance. That is what a cult preaches but most cults are full of sexual and verbal abuse. What happens to Martha is sad and unsettling. Also just because she leaves the cult and is taken care of by her sister Lucy after she leaves doesn't mean Martha will shake the abuse off easily. Lucy and her husband try to take care of Martha but she will need a more serious type of emotional help.

The scenes that involve the cult can get creepy and they are very scary and not scary in a cheap, shock kind of way. The cult's leader, Patrick, is very good at giving a young woman like Martha false hope. He makes her feel special and beautiful in the beginning but what is he really after? Patrick is played very effectively by John Hawkes who is becoming a very powerful actor. Director Sean Durkin does so well guiding his actors and making his movie feel so real and haunting. The movie's pacing is flawless and the movie is careful not to become phony.

The movie's ending might frustrate some but I felt it was a perfect ending. It made me feel uneasy and got me thinking for hours after seeing the movie. This is a movie that would be perfect to see with a group and have a discussion about. It does what all great movies do which is immerse us into another world that we will never forget. It gives us something to think about and to take with us. It gives us real people and great performances especially one of the best performances I have ever seen by Elizabeth Olsen. I love how the movie and it's ending can shake a person's beliefs and make us think well after the movie ends. "Martha Marcy May Marlene" is a perfect, powerful and haunting movie that I will never forget.