Martha Marcy May Marlene

Blaine: I wanted to get to know actress, Elizabeth Olsen more and one of her best known movies is "Martha Marcy May Marlene". I didn't like this movie at first because I had a hard time understanding what it was about. I also thought it was weird and I didn't see anything creative about it. But the movie was on my mind for months after the first time I watched, then I thought maybe it's growing on me. The film's about a young woman who chooses a wrong path.

Plot (Spoiler Alert)

It starts off with Martha sneaking out of a house in the Catskill Mountains and fleeing into the woods. She calls her sister, Lucy who is very surprised to hear Martha's voice after not seeing or contacting her for two years. Martha doesn't really tell Lucy where she has been this whole time and that she has been apart of a cult. Lucy picks her up at a nearby bus station and takes Martha to her vacation home by the lake in Connecticut. Martha doesn't feel safe because she fears the cult maybe after her after she escaped. Lucy introduces Martha to her husband, Ted.

As the movie goes on it shows pieces of Martha's past while she was with the cult. Martha's behavior is weird and rude around Lucy and Ted. She skinny dips, she crawls into their bed while they are having sex, she thinks having a big house shouldn't be only meant for only two people and the right way to live isn't through money and possessions. It all stresses Ted out while he is trying to enjoy his vacation time. The reason Martha does those things is because that's what the cult would do and their leader, Patrick had brain washed her. The men there take advantage of the woman and treat them like house slaves. They also would break into big houses at night and steal stuff either for themselves or to sell them for money, so that way they can afford the gas, the food and the other stuff they need.

Martha has trouble sleeping at night thinking the cult maybe out there. Lucy and Ted have a party for friends, but Martha freaks out feeling that the bar tender is a part of the cult. Ted doesn't want to go through with this any longer and feels Martha needs professional treatment. The last flashback shows some of the cult members sneaking into another house. The owner catches them and then one of the members stabs the guy in the back to death. Martha has never witnessed a killing before and she has trouble letting it go. Patrick gets furious with Martha and tells her to get over the death.

Back at the lake house she wakes up seeing a hand reaching for her legs causing her to freak out and run away. She crawls up the stairs and kicks down the man who is following her. The man she kicked was Ted, who she had mistaken for Patrick. It makes it very clear to Lucy that she has had enough of all this and that she has to send Martha away. Martha makes Lucy cry after telling her she'll be a terrible mother. The next morning, Martha is swimming down at the lake and notices a man is watching her on the other side of the shore. Later as Ted and Lucy drive Martha to the treatment facility, a man runs in front of their car. Martha knows it's the same man from the lake, but she does not say anything.

Blaine: I don't know if Martha knew what she was getting herself into when she first joined the cult. Martha disappeared off the face of the earth and she never called and the reason was because she shut Lucy out of her life for two years. Patrick brought out Martha's true feelings for her sister. Lucy was worried sick about Martha for a long time and she was relieved to have Martha back, but it's also hard for her to believe after Martha disappeared without a trace and then suddenly showed up out of nowhere. When Martha called her sister, Lucy and I heard Lucy's voice for the first time, it sounded very familiar to me. And then when she got out of the car, I was trying to get a good look at her to see who it was. Sarah Paulson is another actress I was also getting to know more as well at the time. I had no idea she was in this movie and I found it a coincidence seeing her in this film shortly after seeing her as Lana Winters in "American Horror Story: Asylum". Martha is haunted by the memories and she can't tell if they are real or something out of a dream. The mother's dead and Lucy is Martha's only living family left. Lucy is trying to help Martha and wants them to become close like sisters should be. She feels she wasn't really there for Martha before she disappeared. Lucy feels Martha isn't telling her everything that happened to her. Her brother in law asks her what she wants to do with her life. She feels that people should just exist instead of having to have careers. But I think "How would we exist without careers?" The cinematography muted color. The ending is a mystery. I ask myself "What becomes of Martha?" I know her sister is sending her somewhere, but how's it going to turn out? Could that stranger be a member of Patricks cult and if so does he bring Martha back to the cult? And what becomes of the cult?" My rating on "Martha Marcy May Marlene" is four out of five stars. It's a movie I have mixed feelings for, but still it's showing something new out of storytelling.

Elizabeth Olsen and Sarah Paulson promoting the film at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival

Behind the scenes

Awards

"Martha Marcy May Marlene" was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards. Best First Feature, Best Female Lead: Elizabeth Olsen, Best Supporting Actor: John Hawkes and the Producers Award.