Review of Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) by Jollyg87 — 15 Dec 2011

While this is getting rave reviews, I personally had a miserable time with "Martha Marcy May Marlene." First of all, in any movie the characters need to go through some kind of transformation so we can understand what they're going through.

In a way, Martha does change. There are a series of flashbacks that show her happy and carefree as she settles into the cult of a sex crazed looney. Then we see her psychologically damaged after she's escaped and living with her sister.

But the movie establishes these two sides of Martha early on and very little is done in the end to give us a complete picture of who Martha is as a person. I also didn't care too much for the outcome of her character.

While Elizabeth Olsen gives a knockout debut performance, I found her character to be very self-centered and foolish. First, she was stupid to have joined the cult and believe all of the stupid babble the leader spewed on her.

Then she refuses to even hint at what happened to her with her sister. I understand that a person would have a hard time opening up about traumatic events, but they at least need to understand that she's been through some messed up times.

She never lets them know. It becomes very frustrating to deal with. Then to top it all off, the movie ends at a random point. I felt like I went through enough trouble in this film to get some kind of conclusion, but the movie leaves us with none.

I saw a lot of similarities between "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Take Shelter," but the biggest differences for me were the characters and execution. The characters in "Take Shelter" were compelling enough that it could end on a cliffhanger and get away with it.

The characters in " Martha" on the other hand, were rather unlikable. Also, the ending is beautifully executed in "Take Shelter," while in "Marcy" the movie ends like the projectionist forgot to put on the last reel.