11-24-11 Movie Review:  Martha Marcy May Marlene

The Wichita Eagle criticized Martha Marcy May Marlene for raising “questions that never get addressed,” and gave it 2 ½ stars; Entertainment Weekly called it “withholding yet undeniably intriguing” and gave it 3 1/2 ; I agree all around and would give it a 3.

It’s almost like a game that gives you a series of related scenes and leaves it to you to manufacture a plot including them. It never tells us what Elizabeth Olsen’s trauma was, if there was one, or even whether it occurred before she estranged herself from her family and joined John Hawkes’ cult-like commune; it does suggest why she left Hawkes’ place, but just suggests it, and never explains why she won’t talk to anybody about anything. And why she is so childlike that she doesn’t know why she couldn’t climb into bed with people while they are having sex is never even suggested except maybe by the crowded conditions at Hawkes’. It’s not difficult to fill in the gaps, but it’s purely conjectural.



I agree with everybody that newcomer Elizabeth Olsen is fascinating, but since I can’t know what her character is doing, I can’t tell whether this is a matter of acting or simply a very peculiar charisma. Whatever it is, she’s always convincing in the individual scenes, whether you can put them all together into a characterization or not. Every individual scene in Martha Marcy May Marlene is convincing, as is a every character; it is an unusual movie, thought-provoking. And more than one interpretation makes good sense.

People who favored Inception and Momento may even find it too obvious. I myself seem to require more coherence in a movie than most moviegoers seem to. I suspect that Martha Marcy May Marlene will do good business, and it deserves to.

[Wichita showtimes]