Martha Marcy May Marlene

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Will shake you up and then follow you home

By

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2013

Elizabeth Olsen excels in this quiet yet devastating character study of a young woman recently escaped to her materialistic sister’s house from an abusive, Manson-like agricultural cult (headed by the always effective John Hawkes). The present is interwoven with gauzy flashbacks to her time on the farm, and it’s often difficult to tell which is which. This is intentional and brilliantly effective in portraying her tenuous grip on reality and in keeping you off balance. The subtle final shot is as scary as any I’ve seen. This insidiously creepy flick will shake you up and then follow you home.