The communal cult experience and its effects on someone who’s broken free form the basis of Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene. With an intriguing story structure and an expert lead performance, the movie does explore with some success the paranoiac return to the real world after a cult indoctrination, but the director’s sluggish way with narrative slows things to a crawl occasionally making the movie often seem longer than it actually is.
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Blu-ray)
Directed by Sean Durkin
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Year: 2011
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 102 minutes
Rating: R
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English; Dolby Digital 5.1 French, Spanish
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish
Region: A
MSRP: $ 39.99
Release Date: February 21, 2012
Review Date: February 20, 2012
The Film
3.5/5
After spending two years in a free love commune, Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) is involved in an upsetting experience with her group that makes her decide to leave the cult. Her sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) comes to get her and brings her back to the vacation home she and husband Ted (Hugh Dancy) are renting for a couple of weeks. But memories have Martha in their grip, and she can’t escape reliving experiences with the cult, some pleasurable with the cult leader Patrick (John Hawkes) and the general acceptance she enjoys for the first time but some others especially upsetting. What’s more, she’s convinced the cult members who only live about three hours from where she is now in Connecticut have every intention of trailing her and either bringing her back or killing her to keep their secret.
Writer-director Sean Durkin continually uses episodic flashbacks scattered through the present day-narrative to recall specific instances of Martha’s cult experience, and some of his transitions between now and then are beautifully handled, the segues so effortless that it’s almost like capturing stream of consciousness in cinematic form. And he gets cinematically arty (perhaps a bit too self-consciously) with a skinny dipping sequence among the cultists done with eerily muffled sound and a murky picture. But he’s less successful with narrative flow: we spend much time watching lovemaking that’s not especially interesting or illuminating, and even though we eventually learn that the cult isn’t squeaky clean (involving itself in home invasions to replenish its coffers) and has some mentally unbalanced individuals in positions of power, it takes far too long to get there making some of Martha’s earlier paranoia seem bizarre for no good reason. Martha’s backstory before joining the cult is also spottily handled making her hot and cold relationship with her sister something of an unsatisfying mystery.
Elizabeth Olsen gives a marvelous performance as the title character (who goes by Marcy May and Marlene at certain points during her cult years). She’s believably innocent in the early going with believable disillusionment setting in once she experiences the cult in its darkest moments, and the mental unbalance she exhibits with her sister and brother-in-law are also magnificently portrayed. John Hawkes is completely convincing as the creepy albeit charismatic Charles Manson-like cult leader, and Brady Corbet as his kind of second-in-command, the principal procurer as it were, is likewise completely authentic in look and manner. Sarah Paulson’s sibling affection but growing bewilderment with her sister’s escalating eccentricity is nicely played, and Hugh Dancy, in the smaller part as Lucy’s ambitious husband who strongly resents Martha’s condemnation of capitalism, is very effective.
Video Quality
3.5/5
The film is presented in its theatrical 2.40:1 aspect ratio and is offered in 1080p resolution using the AVC codec. The image here is likely faithful to its cinematic projection, but it’s a fairly unappealing look nonetheless. Sharpness is never particularly memorable, and much of the film has a hazy appearance that sometimes gives scenes an unattractive digital quality. Color has acceptable depth, and flesh tones are generally natural (occasionally a bit brown), but shadow detail is murky and generally unappealing. The film has been divided into 24 chapters.
Audio Quality
4/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix doesn’t do a lot with the surround channels. There are some nice ambient sounds in the pastoral scenes which open the movie, and the Saunder Jurriaans-Danny Bensi music score gets some thin spread to the surrounds though much of it plays more forcefully in the front soundstage. But the soundtrack as a whole is focused on the front channels. Dialogue has been well recorded and has been placed in the center channel.
Special Features
3.5/5
Sean Durkin’s Mary Last Seen, a short film shot a year before the feature was produced and one that focuses on how a young person is procured for the cult, is presented in 1080i and runs for 13 ½ minutes.
A series of EPK featurettes are presented focusing on different aspects of the movie. They’re all in 1080p.
- “Spotlight on Elizabeth Olsen” gives the star 2 ¾ minutes to talk about her character in the movie.
- “The Story” features director Sean Durkin and star Elizabeth Olsen talking about the structure of the film with its flashbacks and present day scenes. It runs 3 ¾ minutes.
- “The Making of Martha Marcy May Marlene” is only 3 ¼ minutes with the stars of the movie along with director Durkin talking about the family atmosphere on the set among cast and crew.
- “A Conversation with the Filmmakers” offers director Sean Durkin and producers Josh Mond and Antonio Campos discussing their friendship since NYU Film School and their work together on this project. It runs 3 ¼ minutes.
- “The Psyche of a Cult” presents a leading expert on the cult mentality talking about how faithful the film is to capturing the cult experience in this 5 ¼-minute lecture.
“Marcy’s Song” music video is performed by John Hawkes in a more formal setting rather than the way it’s used in the movie. This runs 4 minutes in 1080p
The film’s theatrical trailer runs 2 ½ minutes in 1080p.
The disc offers promo trailers in 1080p for Chronicle, Shame, The Whistleblower, The Killing: Season 1, There Be Dragons, Machine Gun Preacher, and Texas Killing Fields.
In Conclusion
3.5/5 (not an average)
Martha Marcy May Marlene is a disturbing and sporadically effective psychological thriller concerning a cult experience that is difficult if not impossible to shake. Though the bonus features are mostly fluff pieces that don’t probe into the film’s real depths, the movie will likely please those looking for something more cerebral than the usual thriller.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
