Martha Marcy May Marlene 

Genre: psychological drama 

With: Elizabeth Olsen (Martha), Sarah Paulson (her sister Lucy), Hugh Dancy (Ted, Lucy’s husband), John Hawkes (Patrick), Maria Dizzia (Katie), Julia Garner (Sarah), Louisa Krause (Zoe), Christopher Abbott (Max), Brady Corbet (Watts)

Director: Sean Durkin

Screenplay: Sean Durkin

Release: 2011

Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures, Maybach Cunningham et al.

Rating: 14A

MBiS score: 8.0/10



‟Marcy! Marcy May! Where ya goin'?”


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Story-line: Martha, who lives in a commune with 20 or so other people, quietly leaves one morning carrying a knapsack. For some reason, she seems nervous, maybe even frightened. What is she planning to do?

Pluses: convincing performances by Elizabeth Olsen (notice her emotional range), Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy and John Hawkes, Sean Durkin’s unsettling screenplay and irreproachable helming, an astute storytelling style consisting of pertinent flashbacks and present-day events, attractive cinematography, consistent production values and a minimal but appropriate musical score.

Minuses: none… except for those panic-inducing phone calls.

Comments: MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE tells the story of a disoriented young woman who has found her place neither in our status-obsessed society nor in the alternative world she has chosen instead. As it reassembles the pieces of Martha’s shattered life, this fine film manages to make her all the more human and engaging. What Sean Durkin has crafted here is a very personal work, an original, unpredictable movie he can rightly be proud of. Let’s hope Martha can chase away her fears… and help us dispel our own.   

MBiS

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