Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

The film is a wonderfully difficult existential thriller about identity and the tenuous grasp on self after cult life. Olsen delivers a frightfully fearless performance that exposes all of Martha’s scars in both worlds.

The critic praises Elizabeth Olsen's star-making performance and the assured debut of writer-director Sean Durkin in this disturbing drama about a young woman escaping a cult. It highlights the film's smart, suspenseful reflection on cults and its ability to sustain a mood of quiet dread through to an ambiguous ending.

This meticulously crafted psychological journey through paranoia and dread follows a young woman escaping a manipulative cult, with fluid editing between timelines. Elizabeth Olsen is a revelation as the guarded, bruised Martha in one of the most chillingly intelligent films of the year.

The film stands out for its integrity and unsettling power, with an intricate exploration of Martha’s fractured identity after escaping the commune. Elizabeth Olsen gives an unequivocally great, empathetic central performance that carries the movie.

This is a slippery thriller about fugitive states and not knowing who you are, as Martha recovers at her sister's lake house while flashbacks reveal cult nightmares. Durkin's assured debut uses painterly visuals and Olsen emanates anxiety beneath a smooth surface.

The critic finds Durkin’s debut rewarding, thoughtful and terrifying despite its ambiguous, rough edges. Olsen and Hawkes deliver standout performances that anchor the film’s creepy psychological study of cult life and its aftermath.

The critic calls it a tense and superbly acted analysis of trauma and vulnerability, crediting Durkin's remarkably composed storytelling. They single out Elizabeth Olsen's depth and complexity in her feature debut for authentically capturing the character's anguish.

This is a disquieting and ambiguous indie about a young woman escaping a cult, with an unsettling darkness in its woodland settings. It is acted and directed like a sensitive drama rather than a scary movie, and is all the scarier for it.

Calhoun describes it as an impressive and haunting debut that keeps viewers questioning reality alongside the protagonist. He singles out the film's suggestion that psychological restriction can exist in ordinary family life as much as in a cult.

The film effectively portrays the psychic damage from cult life through strong performances, especially by Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes. Durkin’s non-linear structure is a minor flaw but the overall result is ambitious and effective.

The review calls it an expertly crafted exercise in cinematic storytelling fueled more by ominous dread than conventional drama. It singles out the supremely assured quality of the filmmaking, particularly the exquisite composition, sound design and musical choices.

The critic views the film as an effective portrait of trauma and fractured identity conveyed through interwoven timelines. She singles out its poetic, understated style that builds anxiety through ambiguity and mental contours rather than overt shocks.

Durkin delivers a troubled and insidious film about a cult rather than a cult film, with pastoral calm giving way to a pagan fable of control and identity. Olsen’s performance captures the battle to retain a coherent self against the cult leader’s thrall.

The sensitive treatment of a sensational subject heralds the arrival of talented first-time director Sean Durkin and promising new star Elizabeth Olsen. The elliptical script and non-linear editing withhold narrative drive but offer exquisite lensing and a haunting ending.

The critic finds the film's dueling-narrative structure gimmicky and ultimately empty, despite strong performances from the cast including Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes. It notes Durkin's skillful use of the widescreen frame but criticizes the lack of deeper character insight or emotional payoff.

The critic hails it as a stunner and strong debut that is superbly acted and assembled, terrifying and deeply disquieting in its building of paranoia and mood. Olsen's breakout performance and Durkin's subtle direction are singled out for praise.

The critic praises the film's powder keg of tension, paranoia, and regret through restrained storytelling, haunting direction, and standout performances by Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes. It is noted as one of the best at Sundance for its intelligent, compelling exploration of cult trauma and failed re-assimilation.

Durkin crafts an assured, exquisitely controlled indie drama about escape from a cult and uneasy reentry, with Elizabeth Olsen delivering a naked, raw breakthrough performance as the vulnerable yet resilient Martha. The film excels through hallucinatory flashbacks, visual control, and a chilling John Hawkes as the cult leader, creating a riveting and excruciating experience.

The critic calls it a memorable and resonant debut that creeps under the skin as a moody, atmospheric study of paranoia that is hard to beat. The film's ambiguity around the cult's power dynamics and abuse, along with Olsen's raw and magnetic performance, are highlighted.

The critic describes the film as an intense and unforgettable directorial debut that is discomfiting and transfixing in its portrait of cult brainwashing. Olsen's tour de force performance and the tremendous filmmaking are singled out for praise.

The critic describes the film as the chilling feel-bad movie of the year, praising its tense portrayal of a woman's escape from a cult and her subsequent trauma. They single out first-time director Sean Durkin for brilliantly interweaving the cult experiences with the protagonist's post-traumatic stress.

The critic calls the film unusual, unsettling and uncompromising, praising its short, sharp structure that leaves questions unanswered. He singles out the director's suffocating close-ups, eerie long shots and the strong performances by Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes.

The critic finds the film an unsettling and disorienting psychological thriller that effectively blurs fact and memory through Martha's perspective, leaving disturbing questions unanswered. Olsen's raw, haunting lead performance and Durkin's assured direction are singled out for praise.

The critic finds the film riveting thanks to its compelling central performance but notes it remains somewhat detached. He singles out Elizabeth Olsen's mesmerising portrayal of a psychologically scarred woman for praise while criticising the lack of impactful thriller elements.