Martha Marcy May Marlene

Elizabeth Olsen's acting in Martha Marcy May Marlene is really fantastic (it may or may not be her first feature film, not sure which she did first this or Silent House). Her acting combined with the background we get make it easy to see how someone could be drawn into a cult - and stay for so long despite the abusiveness.

The interactions between Martha, her sister and her brother-in-law are downright strange at times but not in a 'hunh?' way at all. They're strange in a way that actually makes perfect sense for the characters and the experiences they've had.

I was really disappointed by the very, very, very end of the film - but I liked the other 100 or so minutes enough that I can forgive it (or forget about it). That and I really can't wait to see Elizabeth Olsen in something else.

Greetings again from the darkness. This one has been on my radar since the Sundance Festival and all the raves about Elizabeth Olsen's performance. After attending a screening last evening, I find myself at a loss to adequately describe not just her stunning turn, but also this unusual film from writer/director Sean Durkin.

On the surface, this sounds like just another movie peeking inside a creepy cult that brainwashes, and psychologically and physically abuses women, and is led by a charismatic (and creepy) religious style figure-head. There are many similarities to the Manson-family story of which much has been published, but Mr. Durkin takes the film in a much different and very creative direction by concentrating on what happens to Martha (Olsen) after she escapes the cult.

In the Q&A, Durkin states he did much research and found the most fascinating story to be that of a cult escapee and what she went through during her first three weeks of freedom. Martha sneaks out early one morning and places a panic call to her older sister, whom she hasn't communicated with in two years. Settling in to the lake house with big sis and new brother-in-law, it becomes quite obvious that Martha doesn't know how to fit in society and has absolutely no interest in discussing her recent past.

The sister is played very well by Sarah Paulson, and her husband is Hugh Dancy (so very good in Adam). This seemingly normal yuppie couple is trying to do right by Martha, but the fits of paranoia, outbursts of anger, and societal goofs are just too much for them.

The genius of this film is in the story telling. The cinematic toggling between today and moments of time at the cult farm house leads the viewer right into the confused mind of Martha. We don't get much back story but it's obvious she was "ripe" for cult world when she was chosen. We see how Patrick, the quietly charismatic leader, sings her a song and steals her heart ... she wants so much to belong. We also see how she bonds with the other women at the farm house, and ends up in a situation that seems to snap her out just enough so she finds the strength to leave. The editing of scenes between these two worlds in outstanding and serve to keep the viewer glued to the screen.

Last year I raved about an independent film called Winter's Bone. I chose it as one of the year's best and it ended with some industry award recognition. I am not willing to say this film is quite at that level, but I will say that the younger sister of the Olsen twins, Elizabeth, delivers an incredible first feature film performance and Sean Durkin deserves an audience for his first feature film as writer/director. Another bond between the two indies is that John Hawkes plays the cult leader Patrick, and Hawkes was a standout in Winter's Bone.

There will undoubtedly be some debate about whether this is cutting edge independent filmmaking or just another snooty art-house mind-messer. All I can say is, I hope the film grabs enough audience for the debate to matter ... it deserves it.

....Or Hot Hippie Cult Love Gone (Very) Bad The schizophrenic, abstract story unfolds almost languidly at a very deliberate pace evoking Bergman with its Euro overtones, serene cinematography and bucolic backgrounds. It's not quite like any American indie films of recent memory. In someways this year's "Winter's Bone", (sharing John Hawks) but with its character study involving sanity slowly, sadly slipping away. Sean Durkin wrote and directed the film with a meditative tone and in a spartan, concise manner that thankfully doesn't suffer from the time-shifting storyline thanks to mostly seamless editing. (Durkin won best director at Sundance last January for this, his first feature.)

Youngest Olsen sister, Elizabeth plays Martha, (who's ripe to play an early '20's version of Vera Farmiga, or Maggie Gyllenhaal's little sis'-you're welcome Hollywood!). It's a marvelous, virtuoso performance, haunting and understated, natural yet very calculated. Olsen straddles the thin line between coherence & madness in a way that's almost endearing and frightening-but ultimately just tragic while side-stepping the mines of caricature and melodrama. She captures the sublimely tortured soul of Mary in a nuanced, organic way that's award-worthy. (And much more realistic and believable than a certain related, crazed ballerina portrayal, but one could argue that one was SUPPOSED to be over-the-top.) Her torment is palpable from the moment she opens her mouth.

The story begins in what appears to be a cult-like commune (is there any other kind in Film-land?) in the Catskills run with an iron fist by Patrick (John Hawks). He's basically a cool, calm, collected version of Charlie Manson-even uttering a few Manson-inspired lines. Hawks can play this type of weaselly, Lothario in his sleep. His quiet menace, vehemence and nihilism seems to be cat nip to his conquered concubines. His word is law, and everybody knows it. Even going as far as renaming Martha "Marcy May", branding her in his own way as you're sure he's done to the other girls in his "flock". But it's not just Patrick to blame for her subservience-the whole cult seduces her! Everyone gets along, & the love is free-flowing in this pastoral, Utopian paradise with many pretty, fresh-faced young women and a few young men (procurers) as well. But all's not well in Well-ville as soon, our protagonist is sneaking out of her home at first light. We don't know how she got there or why she's leaving-although the latter is revealed in the film's third act.

Having no resources, Martha connects with her estranged, older sister Lucy (Sarah Paulsen) and her stressed husband Ted (Hugh Dancy) both in largely thankless roles. Claiming she hooked up with an a-hole boyfriend and just lost track of time the past few years, she won't elaborate any further on her past adventures. Lucy senses the undercurrents beneath, and her guilt gets to her. She sees Martha reluctantly as the cross she must bare being that she's parent-less to the growing consternation-and eventual rage of Ted. The younger sister has obviously changed, running the gamut from playful to feral. Martha the solipsist at first starts out innocent enough with inappropriate behavior like skinny-dipping in full view of Ted, challenging the couple's class consciousness and asking strange questions regarding married couples' mating habits. That's nothing though compared to what's to come and soon, it becomes obvious this is no mere existential crisis-she's become unhinged and needs to be committed. Cult life has been one long mind-f**k she never got over as she tries to fit in to her sister's straight world. When Lucy finally lowers the boom on Martha, (Paulsen's best scene) she recoils and calmly hits her with a cynical, vindictive comment meant to exact a devastating toll on her older sister that almost knocks the wind out of Lucy.

In between these scenes of family revelry, we're given glimpses into the sequence of events that lead to Martha's escape. From her sad, drug-induced deflowering, sorry, "initiation" by Patrick, to the special song he has written for his new main squeeze, (You get the feeling he's gone out of his way to find horrible musicians as his minions thereby making him Clapton by default.) to the tragic turning point. (The only scene in the movie with an obvious outcome.) One thing's for sure, Lucy's kid sis' is a mess, she begins to doubt her decision, her sanity, and herself. She's disintegrating-and she knows it. Even as she clutches the very fragments of who she thinks she is: "I'm a "teacher and a leader!" Martha is like a cat ready to pounce, always on edge. In fact, the more you dive into those lost, mesmerizing eyes, the more you're reminded of the kitten who's found herself up a high, narrow fence not knowing how she got there or having the faintest idea how to get down-or even which side to get down on.

As an actress, Olsen is able to wire walk confidently and has the potential to be this generation's Jodie Foster. (Yeah, I said it.) Even when Martha's waking life seems to blend into her dreamworld, and you can practically see her drowning in emotional quicksand, the actress is able to keep the character grounded in the real and the surreal at the same time-no mean feat for someone barely out of her teens. The direction, and story are well-served by the dark and unnerving score by Saunder Jurriaans & Danny Benasi, bubbling under nicely and melding with Martha's encroaching paranoia. The seamlessness of the two story lines come to a head with a THOROUGHLY maddening, tantalizingly teasing, made-for-sequel final scene-only the joke's on you-there won't be one...

Cast: John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, Elizabeth Olsen, Hugh Dancy, Brady Corbet Director/Screenwriter: Sean Durkin Producer: Josh Mond, Antonio Campos, Chris Maybach Genre: Drama/Thriller Rating: R for disturbing violent and sexual content, nudity and language. Running time: 120 min. Release date: October 21 ltd.

Elizabeth Olsen is surprisingly dour and convincing as the main character - Martha/Marcy May/Marlene Lewis. When I read that she was the sister of the Olsen twins I wasn't sure what to expect - but she displayed none of the saccharine characteristics of Mary Kate and Ashley. She is striking-looking - perhaps this is enhanced by the beautiful cinematography of this movie. John Hawkes, as Patrick, the leader of the cult family, is great. Creepy and bizarre - he makes you cringe but you can't take your eyes off him. Louisa Krause, who played the freaked-out high school prostitute in The Babysitters, is also fun to watch as Zoe, the seeming Godsend of a friend to Martha/Marcy May in the cult family, but who is actually just as creepy as Patrick. The discomfort that Martha brings to Lucy and Ted (Sarah Paulson and Hugh Dancy) - the real-family sister and brother-in-law - is palpable, even if it is what makes the story kind of a bummer overall. The dense forests, fertile farmland, and beautiful lake are characters themselves. Martha's connection with them brings her otherwise ethereal (or maybe just spaced out or tweaked-by-something unknown) character to earth - for me it made her someone I could like and feel sympathy for, even when her relationship with Patrick and Zoe inspired not much.

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.