Friday, 25 August 2017

Martha Marcy May Marlene

(Sean Durkin/2011/USA)


After two years off the grid Martha resurfaces and contacts her sister. She’s been living in a cult and as we watch her difficulty reintegrating to normal life her time with the cult is shown in parallel through flashbacks. This is an understated film that gently observes as Martha’s paranoia increases in tandem with the memories of indoctrination into more and more unorthodox behaviour. The cuts from the summer house to the cult house are done well and the scenery and ambient sounds heighten the sense of immersion in the settings which works brilliantly. It swells to an ambiguous ending which is just right with fine performances from Olsen, Hawkes, Aulson and Dancy.

(3/5)

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