Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Drama, Thriller

Director: Sean Durkin
Writer: Sean Durkin
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, John Hawkes, Hugh Dancy, Brady Corbet

"You can get away. But you can never escape."

Haunted by painful memories and increasing anxiety, Martha escapes a violent sect and returns home to live with her older sister Lucy and her husband Ted. With no other family to fall back on, she tries in despair to adapt to the luxurious lifestyle of Ted and Lucy.

Meanwhile, small but unpleasant memories of her sect life increasingly return more and more often. The charismatic sect leader Patrick managed to manipulate her flawlessly. Now she lacks the support offered by the commune, but at the same time she is terrified that others will come to fetch her. While Martha's isolation grows, her severe paranoia escalates.

In his directorial debut, Sean Durkin makes Martha's desperation - and that of her helpless sister - oppressively palpable.

Plot summary from IMDb: Martha has run away from an abusive hippie-like cult where she was living as Marcy May for two years. She turns to her sister and brother-in-law who take her in and want to help her. The problem is Martha is having a hard time separating dreams from reality and when haunting memories of her past keep resurfacing, she may need more help than anyone is able to give her.

Awards: 22 wins & 60 nominations.
Runtime: 102 min
R