By CHRIS SURPRENANT
Arts Editor
What’s in a name? That’s the question in Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, a new drama starring Elizabeth Olsen. Revolving around former cult member Martha (Olsen), the film tries to capture the difficulties of assimilating back into mainstream life after years of brainwashing. With beautiful cinematography and stellar performances, Durkin creates a film that will haunt the viewer long after the credits roll.
The film opens with a disoriented, frightened Martha stumbling her way through the Catskills to a payphone to call her estranged sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson). It’s been two years since they’ve spoken. Overjoyed yet incredibly worried, Lucy comes to the rescue and takes Martha to live with her and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy) at their lake house in Connecticut. Martha is visibly unhinged; she won’t eat and barely speaks. When she does, she speaks against the lavish lifestyle of her sister and brother-in-law, criticizing their seeming overindulgence.
As the film progresses, the audience sees the difficulty Martha has returning to mainstream society. Through flashback, we see the horrors Martha is subjected to by the cult members, although she is fooled into believing they are natural. The farm that “the family” operates and lives off of is in the names of the fictional Martin and Marlene Lewis. Anyone who answers the phone must answer the phone as Martin or Marlene, ask three questions, repeat the name of the caller, then take a message. It is this type of systematic mania that causes Martha to lose her identity and her sense of belonging.
The charismatic leader of the loonies is Patrick, an eerily thin and grungy John Hawkes. Patrick takes a special liking to Martha, telling her she, “Looks more like a Marcy May.” This is her name in “the family.” He fills her with ideas that she is a “leader and a teacher.” Martha never went to college because of the cult. The oppressive, unhealthy nature of “the family” creeps back into Martha’s life, and eventually leads to the film’s controversial, if unsatisfactory ending.
Being a thriller that revolves around the mindset and consequences of cultish behavior, Martha is unafraid to push the envelope. There are several incredibly uncomfortable scenes (that may cue nervous laughter from the audience) in which Martha crosses the boundaries that everyday citizens abide by, including but not limited to rules of sexual conduct or basic hygiene. While living with “the family,” those boundaries were often questioned, and more often broken.
Elizabeth Olsen, making her official screen debut, says a lot without words. What she conveys in silence is immense. She often casts blank stares or intense gazes, and genuine looks of sadness and confusion. The audience is able to feel her loss of self. Her best scene is in which Martha attends a party thrown by her sister, only to be sent into hysterics by a bartender who reminds her of the cult. The agony of her disjointed feelings shines through here, and is perhaps the most memorable.
John Hawkes’ Patrick is the character that will haunt audience members. With his eerie drawl and skeleton-like frame, he creates a phantom that draws in the weak and unsuspecting. He becomes the father-figure in Martha’s life, which makes their scenes together very uncomfortable to watch. The command he holds over the rest of the members is intense, and he refuses to lose an argument. They fear him (as they should), and so will the audience.
The disillusion and confusion that plague Martha are represented well through the cinematography. The shots are long, allowing Olsen to really express Martha’s turmoil. Each scene bleeds into the next, making the audience members unsure of time or place, just as Martha is unsure. Combined with the picturesque backdrops, the film offers a strange mix of horror and beauty.
Martha Marcy May Marlene explores the world of a psychologically damaged woman, and the struggles she encounters when trying to reenter the real world. The lines of reality and fantasy are blurred, and creepiness seeps through in every scene. The acting is first-rate, and Elizabeth Olsen is an obvious up-and-comer. Though the film’s ending is unclear, it fits the premise if given some thought. Martha Marcy May Marlene opens locally on November 11.
