Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Elizabeth Olsen | ... | ||
Christopher Abbott | ... |
Max
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Brady Corbet | ... |
Watts
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Hugh Dancy | ... | ||
Maria Dizzia | ... |
Katie
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Julia Garner | ... |
Sarah
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John Hawkes | ... | ||
Louisa Krause | ... |
Zoe
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Sarah Paulson | ... | ||
Adam David Thompson | ... |
Bartender
(as Adam Thompson)
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Allen McCullough | ... |
Man in Home #2
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Lauren Molina | ... |
Cult Member
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Louisa Braden Johnson | ... |
Cult Member
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Tobias Segal | ... |
Cult Member
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Gregg Burton | ... |
Man in Home #1
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Martha has run away from an abusive hippie-like cult where she was living as Marcy May for two years. She turns to her sister and brother-in-law who take her in and want to help her. The problem is Martha is having a hard time separating dreams from reality and when haunting memories of her past keep resurfacing, she may need more help than anyone is able to give her. Written by napierslogs
I'm tempted to give Martha Marcy May Marlene a higher rating than it deserves for what it could have been, not for what it is. It boasts two young talents who are showing tons of potential - director Sean Durkin and lead actress Elizabeth Olsen; Olsen's performance is subtle and effective, and Durkin's directorial work creates a strong sense of atmosphere, which is aided by the superb cinematography of Jody Lee Lipes (who also had very little prior experience in feature length films). It's a film that looks and sounds great, but unfortunately it doesn't mesh into a satisfying experience.
It's probably because there's so much potential and so much to explore, and so little of it is actually brought to fruition, that I left the film with a bitter taste of a missed opportunity. The cult, for example, is fascinating, seductive and nightmarish, and John Hawkes delivers outstandingly, but on closer inspection it looks like a perfectly generic hippie cult of the classic Manson prototype, and we get no hints of what their philosophy actually is, or about the personalities of any of the members. The same goes for the relationship between Martha, her sister and her brother in law, and most of all the ending, which suggests some very interesting subjects which the rest of the movie doesn't really explore.
To be clear: I don't object to open endings or films that leave a lot of information out to allow viewer interpretation, but in this case I felt it was done as a cover up for lack of decision on Durkin's part - a flawed script that doesn't really feel complete. I'll definitely check out his work in the future, but this film isn't quite there yet.