Movie Review: "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

I feel like the oscar season is divided into two major components, once the nominees are announced. There's the actual nominees, which I try to watch as many of as I can before the awards. Then, there's the post-awards films, the ones who critics say should have been nominated, but weren't. This year, that included such films as "Take Shelter" and such performances as Fassbender in "Shame." One other performance was Elizabeth Olsen in "Martha Marcy May Marlene."

The film details Martha's (Olsen) time in a cult in a rural area of upstate NY, and the aftermath upon her escape. The cult was led by Patrick (John Hawkes), and engaged in such things as group sex, folk singing, and even murder. The last one led Martha to leave. The story is told well; we see scenes of Martha with her sister (Sarah Paulson) after her escape, juxtaposed to similar scenes in the cult farm in Martha's memory. And the cult has some pretty gross stuff. Like, Martha awakening to finding her losing her virginity to Patrick, and later counseling a similar new recruit before her first time, telling her that the first time with him is special. Gross and delusional.

After watching the film, I'd be scared of joining a cult. Martha has this paranoia, and you can see how she's quite psychologically disturbed, and cannot adopt back to a normal life. Perhaps the creepiest part was the end, when after swimming and encountering a man by the lake, she sees the same man following her sister's car as they drive to drop Martha off at some sort of psychological facility. I didn't get that it was the same guy until I read it online, but knowing that, it's really creepy. Is the cult following her? Is that just her paranoia?

The film was shot in such a way that you sort of feel the distance Martha has with the rest of the world. It did make the movie itself rather slow-paced, but it wasn't really dull. I felt like it captured the right tone for the material, and helped you feel more about what she's going through. Ugh, those cults are so creepy. She should've been nominated for an oscar, as opposed to some of the others. I know Rooney Mara transformed herself to be Lisbeth, but again, a pretty girl turning into someone not as pretty usually catches the academy's eye. Olsen seems to be someone to watch, based on this film.