Review of Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) by Matthew Y — 23 Apr 2016

The points that standout are the screenplay's before/after toggling of protagonist's life, Elizabeth Olsen's persona and fantastic voice diction during emotional scenes. Even the choice of the premise to capture the mind of a escapee from an abusive cult is interesting. With overall good performances and a well thought out screenplay does enough to hold the viewer's attention while making us feel the protagonist's confusion, ideology and depression.

Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) runs off from an abusive cult and calls her sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) who she has not communicated with over the last 2 years. She is currently living with her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy) in a spacious lake side home. While they welcome and try to do right by Martha, her inability to fit into the society, the memories from the past haunts her into depression, outbursts of emotion and anger pushes the couple to the limits on how much they can take it anymore.

Elizabeth Olsen is not just a pretty face but also a charmer. She didn't look like an actor on the screen but a real person going through real turmoil and agony which was the only reason I could finish the movie. The gimmick of toggling screenplay always do not work right. I hated 21 grams for it. But the way the past and present are intertwined here is systematic, purposeful and well connected. What the protagonist feels for the cult is not hatred but just fear as she discusses some ideologies that has rubbed on her, some new things she learned thus establishing the fact that nothing in life is just black or white. The reason how she delves deeper into the cult from being skeptical to committed and to the point that makes her runaway shows tremendous writing prowess.

The screenplay is also thoughtful by carefully revealing the concepts of adjusting to society, her thoughts and perceptions as well as of others others towards her and placing hints of her past on what led to this. So huge credit to Olsen and the director Sean Durkin to bring life to an otherwise uninteresting plot. The cinematography felt intentionally dark while showing picturesque locations and the background score never came out of the background.

Olsen and screenplay brings life to an otherwise depressing story without a purpose.