Martha Marcy May Marlene

Play trailer

Martha Marcy May Marlene

R

Released Oct 21, 2011

1h 41m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

90%

Tomatometer

210 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

After several years of living with a cult, Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) finally escapes and calls her estranged sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson), for help. Martha finds herself at the quiet Connecticut home Lucy shares with her new husband, Ted (Hugh Dancy), but the memories of what she experienced in the cult make peace hard to find. As flashbacks continue to torment her, Martha fails to shake a terrible sense of dread, especially in regard to the cult's manipulative leader (John Hawkes).

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Led by a mesmerizing debut performance from Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene is a distinctive, haunting psychological drama.

Read Critics Reviews

Christy Lemire

Associated Press

In quiet, intimate ways, it is one of the most startling, haunting films you'll see all year.

Mar 18, 2014

Full Review

Peter Rainer

Christian Science Monitor

Durkin intersperses the present-day scenes with increasingly revelatory flashbacks from Martha's two years in the cult.

Rated: B

Mar 18, 2014

Full Review

Violet Lucca

Film Comment Magazine

With a diegesis mapped along the mental contours of its protagonist, Martha Marcy May Marlene harkens back to Pasolini's notion of the cinema of poetry--and achieves it beautifully.

Jun 28, 2013

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

A psychological drama that builds its labyrinth with a fairly organic performance by Elizabeth Olsen, but its narrative often remains in an overly calculated zone that, in its register of circularity, never takes risks. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 6/10

Jun 10, 2024

Full Review

Joe Lipsett

Anatomy of a Scream Podcast Network

Elizabeth Olsen stuns in her feature debut in a film that perfectly embodies PTSD. While the murder sequence doesn't fully work, the way Durkin shifts between timelines and the "before they were famous" cast makes this a must-see

Rated: 4.5/5

Jan 11, 2024

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The acting is exceptional all around, as is the minimalist score.

Rated: 6/10

Nov 30, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Kaylee Q

The sister and her husband are so un-likeable. They can't manage to be compassionate for a clearly abusive situation for even 24 hours, let alone 2 weeks? I know you're supposed to believe there's an escalation that makes the situation untenable, but even the stair scene is so unbelievable. None of the husband's or sister's reactions makes sense to a person with common sense. Borderline idiot plot. The only redeeming factor is Elizabeth Olsen's acting, which is always amazing. It's one of those movies where it's fine to watch but in retrospect just doesn't make sense.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

11/01/24

Full Review

Jeffrey P

Could be confusing for some; the structure is unique, a bit different, and it isn’t really necessary for anything other than to cover up the fact that this film only pretends to have some deeper meaning without explaining what that meaning is and leaving it purely speculatory. Started giving me a headache about forty-five minutes in and, except for a couple blips here and there, it became pointless and meaningless for me from that point on. Very stupid ending stays instep with the pointlessness of everything else. I guess the moral of the story is - don’t join anyone’s homesteader commune.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/26/24

Full Review

Roger H

I love movies that have me googling stuff after watching them: the story, the actors, the reviews. This was one of those movies for me.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/13/24

Full Review

Jim F

Film critics delight! Truly a waste of time - DONT BOTHER!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

07/14/24

Full Review

Gareth v

This haunting psycho-drama about someone's sense of belonging, and the psychological trauma inflicted within cults, stands out due to the performances of Hawkes & Olsen. A fine feature length debut as director for Sean Durkin.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/03/24

Full Review

Erlinda R

"Martha Marcy May Marlene" most monotonous movie making me mad missing mispent minutes !!!!!!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/13/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Sean Durkin

Director

Elizabeth Olsen

Martha

Sarah Paulson

Lucy

John Hawkes

Patrick

Hugh Dancy

Ted

Brady Corbet

Watts

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Take Shelter

92%

81%

Take Shelter

Watchlist

The Cry of the Owl

11%

20%

The Cry of the Owl

Watchlist

Irresistible

22%

32%

Irresistible

Watchlist

Side Effects

82%

70%

Side Effects

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Side Effects

Straw Dogs

42%

34%

Straw Dogs

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Dave Franco’s Five Favorite Horror Films

Critics Consensus: Paranormal Activity 3 is Certified Fresh

View more photos

Synopsis

After several years of living with a cult, Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) finally escapes and calls her estranged sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson), for help. Martha finds herself at the quiet Connecticut home Lucy shares with her new husband, Ted (Hugh Dancy), but the memories of what she experienced in the cult make peace hard to find. As flashbacks continue to torment her, Martha fails to shake a terrible sense of dread, especially in regard to the cult's manipulative leader (John Hawkes).

Director: Sean Durkin
Producer: Josh Mond, Antonio Campos, Chris Maybach, Patrick Cunningham
Screenwriter: Sean Durkin
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Production Co: Fox Searchlight
Rating: R (Disturbing Violent Content|Disturbing Sexual Content|Language|Nudity)
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 21, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.0M
Runtime: 1h 41m

Most Popular at Home Now