Martha Marcy May Marlene

Rating: 2/5

Every now and then I review a popular movie negatively. I will never back down about my opinion of films like Kick-Ass or Un Profet, but it isn't like I enjoy arguing with my friends and family. Even though I am very opinionated, I acknowledge the other side of the argument, even if I don't agree with it. But honestly, I do not understand why Martha Marcy May Marlene is so acclaimed.

Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) suddenly shows up at her sister Lucy's (Sara Paulson) door after almost three years of absolutely no contact. Martha is introverted and clearly traumatized, but she refuses to talk about what happened to her. What Lucy fails to pry from Martha is that Martha recently escaped a violent cult lead by Patrick (John Hawkes), a true-blue cult of personality. As Martha's behavior worsens, the audience is brought into the madness of her past.

Martha Marcy May Marlene is a classic example of style over substance. Director Sean Durkin manages to hold very good tension throughout the story with fancy editing and creative writing, but there's nothing to it. The film cannot decide whether it wants to be a character study about cult brainwashing or a thriller about the cult coming after Martha. The flashbacks to Martha's time with Patrick are schizophrenically inserted into the main story, which is annoying because the flashbacks are more interesting. Also, Patrick is a clear Manson analogue, a fact the film tries to hide, and as a result he's just a skinny white guy.

Now, say what you will about her sisters, Elizabeth Olsen can act. Her portrayal of the damaged Martha is extremely realistic and intriguing, as is John Hawkes as Patrick. I'm just frustrated by the film because there's no consequences to any of the events and the notable cast is given nothing to work with. The film is also quite snooty, because every shot and cheesy line of dialogue lets you know how avante-garde and deep the director thinks the movie is.

Martha Marcy May Marlene is like last year's Somewhere, interesting filmmaking and great acting, but no focus. It's clearly made for highbrow newspaper critics, and as a result is mostly unaccessible. All that, and this could've been a short film. The script runs out of ideas very quickly, so by the halfway mark it felt like I saw the same pretentious college thesis at least twice. I didn't despise this movie, but I don't recommend it. It's just a big ball of nothing. Well directed and acted nothing, but nothing.