Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene

 Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene

Directed and written by Scott Durkin

With Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy

In the riveting “Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene” two stars are born. Sean Durkin makes his debut as writer and film director and Elizabeth Olsen gives her first performance in a feature film.  

Durkin has crafted a potent psychological thriller about a young woman cult member who is unwinding as she tries to reclaim her previous life. Elizabeth Olsen, the younger sister of the Olsen twins, is that young woman. Both are extraordinary.

Nothing could be more serene than the pastoral calm at a Catskill’s farm where the film begins. What goes on there is initially not clear, but is slowly revealed throughout “Martha, Mary, May, Marlene.” In the beginning scenes, Martha slips away from the farm into the woods and makes a plaintive phone call to her estranged sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson), who she has not seen in two years. Lucy lives with her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy), in gracious yuppie comfort at a spacious weekend  home on a lake. Lucy

takes Martha to their home. Martha, guarded and remote, never reveals what has happened to her. 

The narrative switches back and forth between Patrick’s farm and Lucy and Ted’s very comfortable life. The flashbacks reveal how Martha becomes indoctrinated into the cult. There are 10 women and five men overseen by Patrick (John Hawks), who is both charismatic and sinister.

The men eat before the women do. The women sleep together on mattresses strewn on the floor; they share the same clothes. And Patrick rapes all of them. He even changes their names. Martha becomes Marcy May. The women collectively are Marlene and are totally dominated and controlled by Patrick. They are supposedly “cleansed” by giving up their freedom to be part of his utopian farm.

Martha’s behavior at Lucy’s house is bizarre.. She skinny dips in the daylight, she crawls into Lucy and Ted’s bed while they are making love, she breaks items, she laughs at the wrong things, she disdains her sister’s possessions. She asks Lucy to justify her spacious home. The farm flashbacks illustrate why she is so disturbed.  

“Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene” is really a horror film, It’s very real and you can’t help but think about Charles Manson, David Koresh, Jim Jones, cult leaders who have been able to manipulate and dominate their followers.

Elizabeth Olsen gives an incredible performance. Initially she is a wide eyed innocent, but eventually she becomes paranoid and someone whose inner life is totally out of reach. The film is a psychological case study of her character. She will get an Academy Award nomination.

As Patrick, John Hawks is all sinew and charming when he needs to be. He is unnerving, sometimes appealing, seemingly sincere, but definitely the scariest of villains.

The script, style, and performances make “Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene” an engrossing film going experience. This is director/writer Sean Durkin’s debut film. The film is unsettling and unforgettable