Martha Marcy May Marlene
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American thriller drama film written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy. The plot focuses on a young woman suffering from delusions and paranoia after returning to her family from an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains. The film contains several references to the music of Jackson C. Frank.
Plot
A young woman named Martha escapes from a cult in the Catskill mountains to a nearby town. In a diner, she is confronted by a cult member who attempts to convince her to return, but she refuses. Martha calls her sister, Lucy. Lucy picks her up and takes her to the vacation lake house in Connecticut that she shares with her husband, Ted.
In a flashback, Martha meets the cult leader, Patrick, for the first time. Patrick christens her Marcy May and welcomes her to the cult.
While staying with Lucy and Ted at the lake house, Martha begins exhibiting strange behavior: swimming in a public lake naked, sleeping all the time, not eating, and arguing with her sister and brother-in-law about how to live. Lucy reveals she abandoned Martha and is now attempting to get her back into her life, while she and Ted are also trying to have their own child.
In another flashback, Martha is seen integrating into cult life, but one night she is drugged and raped by Patrick. Patrick tells Martha she needs to share herself and be more open with others.
Back in the present, Martha climbs into bed with Ted and Lucy while they are having sex, angering Ted. Also that night, Martha attempts to contact the cult and is greeted on the phone by a girl identifying herself as Marlene Miller, the name all the women in the cult give when someone calls. Martha loses her nerve and hangs up.
In the next flashback, Martha helps a girl named Sally integrate into the cult. She helps Patrick drug and rape Sally, as had been done to her. Patrick attempts to get Martha to kill a cat as well as another cult member, but Martha refuses. She begins participating in burglaries perpetrated by the cult.
Lucy and Ted host a party. Martha has a psychotic episode when she recognizes one of the bartenders as a cult member and has to be sedated. Ted attempts to convince Lucy to send Martha to a psychiatric hospital, an idea Lucy rejects.
In the last flashback, Martha watches Patrick and Sally talk intimately. She goes on a burglary with the cult that culminates in the stabbing of a man who discovers them, to Martha's shock and horror. Martha has a breakdown in the house. Patrick forcefully subdues her and berates her for her failing to follow the cult's ideals.
In the final scenes, Martha has a nightmare and a panic attack. Ted tries to help her, but Martha kicks him down the stairs. Lucy threatens to send Martha to a psychiatric hospital, to which Martha angrily responds that Lucy will be a terrible mother. The next day, Lucy and Martha reconcile somewhat, and Martha goes swimming. She sees a cult member watching her and leaves the water. When the three leave the house, the cult member is seen following their car while Martha says nothing.
Cast
- Elizabeth Olsen as Martha/Marcy May/"Marlene Lewis"
- John Hawkes as Patrick
- Sarah Paulson as Lucy
- Hugh Dancy as Ted
- Brady Corbet as Watts
- Christopher Abbott as Max
- Michael Chmiel as Scruffy man
- Maria Dizzia as Katie
- Julia Garner as Sarah
- Louisa Krause as Zoe
