Communal disquiet in Martha Marcy May Marlene

WRITER-director Sean Durkin's chilling debut Martha Marcy May Marlene screened in the Un Certain Regard sidebar section at Cannes last year.

Martha Marcy May Mariene

WRITER-director Sean Durkin's chilling debut Martha Marcy May Marlene also screened at Cannes last year, in the Un Certain Regard sidebar section of the festival.

This is one of those films that invite the viewer to read between the lines. Durkin chooses to keep his narrative cards close to his chest.

The early scenes, beautifully shot and framed for the Scope screen, depict a seemingly idyllic life on a commune located on a farm in New Jersey. It's a beautiful place, and the atmosphere seems at first relaxed and productive -but it soon becomes clear that something's terribly wrong. For one thing, the women members of the commune, who outnumber the men, are obliged to eat their meals after the men have finished, and they sleep together in a crowded room on mattresses.

The film's focus is on Martha, who has been re-named Marcy May by commune leader Patrick but who takes on yet another name, Marlene, for her occasional dealings with the outside world. Martha is played by radiant newcomer Elizabeth Olsen while John Hawkes, who plays Patrick, brings with him sinister connotations from his role in Winter's Bone.

Early in the film, Martha runs away and, though confronted (in a tense scene) in a diner by one of the commune men, manages to contact her sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson) who is living with her new husband, Ted (Hugh Dancy) in a lakeside house only a few hours away from the commune. Why has she run away? Why is she frightened? We don't know, but the feeling of dread becomes palpable as, in these idyllic surroundings, Martha behaves like a wanted woman.

We discover the sisters haven't seen one another for two years since, presumably, Martha elected to join the commune. The experience has evidently changed her, as she behaves in various anti-social ways - swimming naked in front of Ted, coming into the couple's bedroom at night - and shows all the signs of being a troubled young woman. Flashbacks to life in the commune gradually show us why.

Durkin previously made a well-regarded short film, Mary Last Seen, and this first feature elaborates and extends the earlier work. Some may find it too enigmatic, but Durkin's achievement is a notable one and he sustains the tension right up to the film's abrupt and challenging conclusion and Olsen shines in a complex and bold performance.
 

Martha Marcy May Marlene (MA15+)
4 stars
Limited national release