Martha Marcy May Marlene

Martha Marcy May Marlene
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sean Durkin
Produced by	Antonio Campos Patrick S. Cunningham Josh Mond
Written by	Sean Durkin
Starring	Elizabeth Olsen John Hawkes Sarah Paulson Hugh Dancy
Music by	Daniel Bensi Saunder Jurriaans
Cinematography	Jody Lee Lipes
Edited by	Zachary Stuart-Pontier
Production company	This Is That Borderline Films
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release date	January 21, 2011 (2011-01-21) (Sundance) October 21, 2011 (2011-10-21) (United States: limited)
Running time	102 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$600,000[2]
Box office	$5.4 million[3]

Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American thriller drama film written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy. The plot focuses on a young woman suffering from delusions and paranoia after returning to her family from an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains. The film contains several references to the music of Jackson C. Frank.

Plot

A young woman named Martha escapes from a cult in the Catskill mountains to a nearby town. In a diner, she is confronted by a cult member who attempts to convince her to return, but she refuses. Martha calls her sister, Lucy. Lucy picks her up and takes her to the vacation lake house in Connecticut that she shares with her husband, Ted.

In a flashback, Martha meets the cult leader, Patrick, for the first time. Patrick christens her Marcy May and welcomes her to the cult.

While staying with Lucy and Ted at the lake house, Martha begins exhibiting strange behavior: swimming in a public lake naked, sleeping all the time, not eating, and arguing with her sister and brother-in-law about how to live. Lucy reveals she abandoned Martha and is now attempting to get her back into her life, while she and Ted are also trying to have their own child.

In another flashback, Martha is seen integrating into cult life, but one night she is drugged and raped by Patrick. Patrick tells Martha she needs to share herself and be more open with others.

Back in the present, Martha climbs into bed with Ted and Lucy while they are having sex, angering Ted. Also that night, Martha attempts to contact the cult and is greeted on the phone by a girl identifying herself as Marlene Miller, the name all the women in the cult give when someone calls. Martha loses her nerve and hangs up.

In the next flashback, Martha helps a girl named Sally integrate into the cult. She helps Patrick drug and rape Sally, as had been done to her. Patrick attempts to get Martha to kill a cat as well as another cult member, but Martha refuses. She begins participating in burglaries perpetrated by the cult.

Lucy and Ted host a party. Martha has a psychotic episode when she recognizes one of the bartenders as a cult member and has to be sedated. Ted attempts to convince Lucy to send Martha to a psychiatric hospital, an idea Lucy rejects.

In the last flashback, Martha watches Patrick and Sally talk intimately. She goes on a burglary with the cult that culminates in the stabbing of a man who discovers them, to Martha's shock and horror. Martha has a breakdown in the house. Patrick forcefully subdues her and berates her for her failing to follow the cult's ideals.

In the final scenes, Martha has a nightmare and a panic attack. Ted tries to help her, but Martha kicks him down the stairs. Lucy threatens to send Martha to a psychiatric hospital, to which Martha angrily responds that Lucy will be a terrible mother. The next day, Lucy and Martha reconcile somewhat, and Martha goes swimming. She sees a cult member watching her and leaves the water. When the three leave the house, the cult member is seen following their car while Martha says nothing.

Cast

• Elizabeth Olsen as Martha/Marcy May/"Marlene Lewis"
• John Hawkes as Patrick
• Sarah Paulson as Lucy
• Hugh Dancy as Ted
• Brady Corbet as Watts
• Christopher Abbott as Max
• Michael Chmiel as Scruffy man
• Maria Dizzia as Katie
• Julia Garner as Sarah
• Louisa Krause as Zoe

Production

Sean Durkin started writing script of Martha Marcy May Marlene in 2007.^[4] When researching his script, Durkin read about what he calls "the big ones" of cults: Jonestown, the Manson family, the Unification Church of the United States and David Koresh. He realised he wanted to make something more experiential than political and downplayed the ideology and goals of the cult.^[5]

While researching, Durkin became fascinated by how someone gets into the farm or commune or group, and made a short film of the name Mary Last Seen about it starring Brady Corbet, who plays cult recruiter Watts in both the short and feature films. Mary Last Seen won the award for best short film at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight. While Mary Last Seen was about how someone gets into the cult, Martha Marcy May Marlene was about what happens to someone when they get out of it. Durkin made the short to show the world Martha was in, and also with the intent to send it out with the script for Martha Marcy May Marlene to potential investors.^[6] Mary Last Seen was selected for the Sundance Film Festival, and Durkin was given a distribution deal with Fox Searchlight.^[7]

Durkin and DP Jody Lee Lipes were inspired by the films Rosemary's Baby, 3 Women, Klute, Interiors, and Margot at the Wedding. The look of the film was particularly inspired by the last film.^[8]

Release

Martha Marcy May Marlene premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January,^[9] with Durkin winning the festival's U.S. Directing Award for Best Drama.^[10] It also screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival^[11][12] and at the 36th Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2011.^[13] The film received a limited release in the United States on October 21, 2011.

In its opening weekend in limited release, Martha Marcy May Marlene grossed $137,651 in the United States.^[14] 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released Martha Marcy May Marlene on DVD and Blu-ray on February 21, 2012.^[15]

Reception

The film received highly positive reviews, while Olsen's performance as the traumatized Martha met with critical acclaim; the film holds a 90% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus capsule stating, "Led by a mesmerizing debut performance from Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene is a distinctive, haunting psychological drama."^[16] On Metacritic the film has a 76 out of 100 "Metascore".^[17] Christy Lemire of the Associated Press named Martha Marcy May Marlene the best film of 2011.^[18] Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, describing Olsen as "a genuine discovery ... She has a wide range of emotions to deal with here, and in her first major role, she seems instinctively to know how to do that." Ebert's only major complaint was that the movie's chronological shifts were "a shade too clever. In a serious film, there is no payoff for trickery."^[19]

Accolades

References

External links

• Martha Marcy May Marlene on IMDb
• Martha Marcy May Marlene at Box Office Mojo
• Martha Marcy May Marlene at Rotten Tomatoes
• Martha Marcy May Marlene at Metacritic