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CEASE TO EXIST
MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (R) During
the late 1960s and 1970s, quasi-religious cults
and their charismatic mind-controlling lead
ers lured countless people into their flock,
breeding paranoia through middle America.
The so-called Manson family, Unification
Church, Process Church and numerous oth
ers all vied for the hearts, minds and souls
of curious seekers. Cults, by definition, trade
in controlling their members physically and
psychologically. Most, however, were argu
ably relatively harmless,
interested more in sell
ing you flowers on the
street and sharing a
few words of confusing
biissed-out dogma rather
than brainwashing. All
it takes is one Manson
or Reverend Jim Jones,
though, to remind one
of the dark side underly
ing their proverbs of
enlightenment.
Martha (Elizabeth
Olsen), a woman in her late teens or early 20s,
has been living with a cult in upstate New
York for over a year. When we first meet her,
however, whatever fulfillment Martha once
felt as part of the group, led by the oddly
magnetic yet creepy Patrick (John Hawkes),
has faded. One morning, Martha wakes up and
flees into the woods. Cult members search for
her, but Martha gets away and telephones her
estranged sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson), who
picks her up. Lucy and her husband, Ted (Hugh
Dancy), take her in, but as Martha struggles
with what happened to her, Lucy and Ted grow
frustrated with her bizarre behavior and her
refusal (or inability) to tell them the truth.
Martha Morey May Marlene, writer/director
Sean Durkin's first feature, sustains its enig
matic spell from the opening moments to its
chilling, ambiguous finale. While its plot is
straightforward, this arthouse-styled character
study thankfully doesn't amplify exploitation
tropes to generate ten
sion as you'd expect,
instead relying on mood
and the slow accretion
of perceptive psychologi
cal details to build up
dramatic momentum. As
Martha remembers her
time with the cult, flash
backs remind us how the
past illuminates present
actions, even if the char
acter is unaware of what
it all means. Olsen is
strong as Martha, a character simultaneously
sympatheti r and maddening. She remains
a cipher, a young woman whose unformed
personality attracts strong-willed people, par
ticularly men, to take advantage of her. Durkin
could've smoothed-out Martha's harder edges;
instead he bravely preserves her complexity
and ensnares us in the mystery that is Martha.
Derek Hill
Elizabeth Olsen
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MARTHA
MARCY
MAY
MARLENE
ANT©K»0 SAhDItAS
hl*U ajiava
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