I've skipped a couple of weeks on my personal Tuesday movie night, but picked back up again last night with Martha Marcy May Marlene.
The movie's been getting a lot of attention lately, due in separate parts to its being a Sundance selection, the subject matter and the pedigree of its star actress. This was actress Elizabeth Olsen's big film debut. She had, however, as a child, had bit parts in her older sisters' movies. You see, Lizzie is the younger sister of The Olsen Twins.
Despite the images (i.e., Grandma's House) that the name and family Olsen can conjure, the movie is dark and dramatic and the lead is incredible. The younger Olsen stars as Martha (aka Marcy May, aka Marlene), a young woman who escapes from an abusive cult and finds refuge with her estranged sister and her new husband. While living with them, she begins to grapple with delusions and paranoia stemming from her time in the cult, straining those relationships. The movie flashes back and forth between her time with the cult and living with her sister in the present-day.
It's definitely a surprising movie, in a good way. I didn't really know what to think given that the Olsen name was attached to the film, but the result is emotional and enticing.
Mini soundtrack:
Jackson C. Frank - "Marcy's Song"
Jackson C. Frank - "Marlene"
