MOTW: Martha Marcy May Marlene
2014-05-12 18:22:08
This is the first in a series of our favorite films.
Starting today we will post a daily weekly “favourite film” in one of the categories below:
- Underrated on IMDb
- Amazing Movies that lost money
- Indie Sci-Fi or Fantasy
- Trippy twists
- High-candy
- Indie Horror or Thriller
- Foreign Language Gems
- Bold and gutsy
- Empowering, inspirational (not spiritual)
- Film debuts
Today’s Favorite Film is Martha Marcy May Marlene whose brilliant title alone should arouse curiosity.
The story follows Martha as she joins and then escapes from a cult group of young adults living together on a farm. I am not sure if this qualifies as horror, but it is a very disturbing movie. Mostly because it is so akin to real life.
The title is clever because each name is used by Martha in different parts of the film: Martha is given the new name Marcy-May by cult leader Patrick and answers the cult’s house phone as Marlene (a generic name used by all females living in the house when answering the phone. Males use Michael.).
As Martha, Elisabeth Olsen proves to be an acting force to be reckoned with. I have no doubt that she is going to be a big, big star. I felt it immediately after watching MMMM, which was before she was cast in Godzilla (2014) and as Scarlet Witch in Avengers 2 (2015).
I can’t wait to see more from her! MMMM is great because it treats cult escapees as real people with real, fucked up problems. It shows how being part of a cult can mess up so many aspects of your life to the point of never being able to fully recover or shake the affect.
Watch it. Fave Film otD: Martha Marcy May Marlene