Martha Marcy May Marlene
After several years of living with a cult, Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) finally escapes and calls her estranged sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson), for help. Haunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia, Martha struggles to re-assimilate with her family.
17 December 1974, Tampa, Florida, USA
1994, New York City, New York, USA
11 September 1959, Alexandria, Minnesota, USA
March 18, 2014
The beauty of Olsen's star-making performance is inarguable.
March 18, 2014
Durkin intersperses the present-day scenes with increasingly revelatory flashbacks from Martha's two years in the cult.
November 04, 2011
Durkin depicts a horror that some among us actually live, where the search for family leads to something familiar and dangerous.
March 18, 2014
Martha is a cipher in the mounting drama, but Olsen manages to give her real life with a sort of reverse charisma, curling her physical beauty into poses of aggression or loss.
July 03, 2016
'Martha Marcy May Marlene' is the vehicle with which the youngest Olsen sister moves out of her famous older twin siblings' shadows, and establishes herself as the serious artist of the family. She's magnificent.
March 18, 2014
In quiet, intimate ways, it is one of the most startling, haunting films you'll see all year.
February 18, 2012
MMMM emphasizes the social and economic discrepancies between Martha's then and now, and alludes to Lucy's guilt about not being there for her younger sister in the past.
May 03, 2015
Durkin's swaggeringly confident film utilizes long takes and tension within compositions to conjure an all-consuming sense of unease.
March 18, 2014
In a world lacking trust, every movement seems a threat, around every corner lurks betrayal.
November 04, 2011
A purposely disturbing portrait of a damaged psyche.
March 18, 2014
A moody, atmospheric study in paranoia and tension.
January 31, 2012
Once we've got over the frustration of this promising film's abrupt ending, we're left with the feeling that you can escape a cult but you can't escape yourself.
