Revisiting Martha Marcy May Marlene

Sean Durkin's first feature "Martha Marcy May Marlene" debuted at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim for lead actress Elizabeth Olsen's internal tour-de-force portrayal. The film opened up many acting opportunities for Olsen, who is set to appear as one of the leads in this summer's "Godzilla", a high profile remake of the original. Olsen also had a (very) small role in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" as the iconic Scarlett Witch, a role she will reprise in 2015 for the Avengers sequel, "Age of Ultron".

Though her profile has increased tremendously, Olsen hasn't struck gold the way she did in Durkin's indie masterpiece. No post-Martha project has allowed Olsen the opportunity to give the same type of tremendous performance. There was "Silent House" back in 2012, in which Olsen came close, but ultimately was hampered by the film's weak third act. She's either the best thing about a very bad film, or stuck in the background given close to nothing in terms of material to work with.

Anyone who watched Martha knows that Olsen's expressive face was the secret weapon behind Durkin's slow-burning thriller. The film itself is as mysterious and closed off as its subject material, but gives the audience hints and insight through Olsen herself; she is the key that unlocks the door to the film that holds us at an arm's length. This is an actress that deserves to be the foreground of her director's vision, not lumped in the background, almost unrecognizably cast as a doting girlfriend. Durkin is still the only director to have realized this.

I decided to re-watch the film recently, in an attempt to focus on the [disappointing] current state of Olsen's career. I'm pleased to report that it remains as haunting and mesmerizing as I found it 3 years ago.
Cult is a word you never hear mentioned in the 102 minute running time of Martha Marcy May Marlene, which is curious seeing as it dominates the entire plot. Martha (Olsen) has been living with a cult for an undetermined amount of time by the time she makes the decision to run away to her sister Lucy (a pre-American Horror Story Sarah Paulson, as amazing as ever). According to Lucy, it's been years, but like a lot of things in this film, it's never explicitly stated.

Martha sums up her experience as "I had a boyfriend. He lied. I left. That's it." which is putting things mildly at best. Martha's "boyfriend" is cult leader Patrick (John Hawkes, still as creepy as ever), who essentially erased her previous life through a serious of "ceremonies" which include (but aren't limited to) changing her name to Marcy May, forcibly having sex with her, thus stripping her of her purity and wholesomeness, and forcing her to engage in robberies to keep the cult's farm (where they're living) afloat financially.

The other women of this cult are treated in a similar fashion, but are told "they're lucky" to be treated as such. Patrick's grip on these women (particularly the already weak Martha) is iron-clad. From the moment he appears onscreen, it's clear he's in charge; Hawke's already ominous intensity (which he exerted to perfection in his Oscar nominated performance in 2010's "Winter's Bone") is amped up ten fold here, with Patrick wielding his power and dominance like a sword ripped from its sheath, in the quietest way possible. He makes himself the only option for these very weak and (mentally) isolated people, and Martha is no exception. He makes tender moments opportunities to draw her in closer, permanently reinforcing her loss of identity, and her dependence on him.

By the time Martha moves in with Lucy, it's far too late for any type of assimilation into "normal" life. The film's plot is structured to be as hackneyed as Martha's grip on reality; the film shifts between the present day at Lucy's home, and the time spent at cult farm and we (like Martha) are unable to process the information unfolding before our eyes, with the scenes at Lucy's flowing seamlessly to scene's with Patrick and the cult. To Martha (and the audience as well) there's no difference, they are always simultaneous. Whether she's physically away from the cult is irrelevant, her mind still very much belongs to Patrick and his teachings.

The shifts grow more frequent and more apparent as the plot burns slowly towards its conclusion; at first we're merely shaken, but the film's end we've been jolted and shaken into confusion, thus being as unsure of what is reality and what is fantasy as our protagonist is. Martha's paranoia grows to a fever-pitch, as does our own.

Never has a film twisted and turned so extravagantly; the film itself because a physical embodiment of the character's psyche, so much so that it's almost poetic. Durkin's voice as a director AND as a writer that it's almost impossible to imagine this being his first feature. Same for Olsen, who is a horror director/writer's DREAM; her expressive, gorgeous face draws the audience in to a point where it becomes hard to look away, while telling them multitudes of information without a syllable being uttered from her mouth.

The film is a challenging sit; it requires you to think, and accept that you will never know for sure what is truly going on, as our protagonist will never know. Sean Durkin actively places the audience in the film as we're going on a roller coaster ride, except with a roller coaster ride there's a payoff, a release of all that tension and nerve-wrecking fear when you're anticipating the drop. With Martha Marcy May Marlene, Durkin's final shot offers no sort of emotional payoff or tension release. Rather, our fear is encouraged to grow and mature as Martha's has throughout the course of the film. The candle isn't snuffed out, there's no absolution. We are as unclear and unsure about Martha's future as she is.