Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

The road of no return is a frightening prospect in this thoughtful, unsettling film from Sean Durkin. Elizabeth Olsen's performance as Martha, a young woman trying to find her way back from a life in an abusive commune, strikes just the right note of defiant vulnerability. There's something uniquely sinister about cults, which is why they make such rich material for psychological thrillers. Martha's lingering feelings towards the people she has fled remain importantly ambiguous and we are slowly drawn into her fear at the prospect of being discovered, which is perhaps perversely touched by a longing to be found.

The cult in question is headed by Patrick, a cunning and charismatic individual played with savage edge by John Hawkes. His ability to sexually manipulate his followers is made chillingly evident from the outset as he renames the women who join him: Martha becomes Marcy May. Durkin's use of flashbacks crucially muddies the waters to retain the elusive aura surrounding the commune. We are never quite sure why Martha joined or why her escape met with the response it did. There are large gaps in the narrative, most intriguingly where her previous life is concerned. Her older sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) is married and successful, and holidaying in an idyllic waterfront home when Martha calls out of the blue after years of absence. Initially supportive and concerned, her behaviour towards Martha jars more obviously as the film progresses. Something is not quite right; she seems oddly uninterested in finding out what happened to her clearly damaged younger sister, and we have to wonder why she never made a more concerted effort to find her. Ted (Hugh Dancy i.e. Mr Clare Danes), Lucy's slightly self-satisfied British husband, is another strange character in this decidedly unnerving mix. As viewers, it is hard to shake off the feeling that Lucy and Ted would rather Martha had never descended upon their shiny, sunlit existence, and their patience seems, at times, perfunctory.

Part of the reason this film is so successful in its aim to disturb is the fact that there is no safe world waiting for Martha after she escapes. Indeed, the very term 'escape' is called into question: the dark shadow of a 'secure unit' hangs over the later part of her time with Lucy and Ted as they become increasingly cold towards her erratic conduct. Perhaps the most frightening prospect for Martha Marcy May is not that Patrick and his 'family' will find her, but that they won't even bother looking.