A gripping, fascinating debut from Sean Durkin, with an excellent script, excellent performances and beautiful cinematography.

For some time there this movie had me, I enjoyed the way it had been building, the subtle shifts from past to present and the tension and distress felt by Martha. Then it flattened out, nothing more was revealed, and I began to grow weary of it. I felt I needed to be more drawn into the indoctrinating methods and dogma the cult threw at these young people I was left high and dry. The movie became as silent as Martha was. When it "ended" a bemused snort from the audience said it all.

Good movie

A very strong directing/writing debut of Sean Durkin and acting debut of Elizabeth Olsen. Film's success lies in Durkins' ability to create the atmosphere of waking nightmare, filled with raw emotions (none of that manipulation crap that became a norm lately). Naturalistic, yet dreamy and dark cinematography is a big part of it. Along with Take Shelter this film makes 2011 a great year for psychological dramas.

I've heard a lot of complaints about the ambiguous ending but overall I thought it was brilliant. Even if the film had gone on longer, that moment needed to stay open to interpretation.

Sean Durkin has crafted one of the most assured debut features of the year with this haunting psychological thriller made all the more disquieting by its subtle, realistically understated treatment of the subject matter and Elizabeth Olsen's splendid breakout performance. The time-shifting narrative was also put to very effective use.

#12#, reviews, story

very slow and unfulfilling storyflow, but great portrayal of paranoia and negative symptoms.. acting is remarkable

It starts off very promising, slowly revealing Martha's character, but as time wears on and you realise the story still isn't as gripping, scary or even interesting as it threatened to be, the pace of the storytelling becomes an irritant, making Olsen's amazing performance the only real positive.

I thought this was a really good film about a person's feeling of impossibility in life. It's not perfect and indeed has some pacing issues and dead weight, but I really liked the cinematography and direction for the most part. Also, a real magic moment with John Hawkes fantastic cover of "Marcy's song" to a perfect image of Olsen's face.

The film features many strong performances and an intense suspense throughout, but the fact that the main character makes no real emotional changes makes the movie start to stagnate towards the end. I get it would take awhile to recover from what was essentially post traumatic stress disorder, but they needed to give me something.

I've noticed a trend in 21st century film - slow, meditative shots that linger on the characters in silence, allowing their emotion to control the scene, and MMMM does it perfectly.

pseudo artsy bullshit

Not ever seeing Olsen's character really open up in the film is one of my main problems with it. The story is interesting (and plenty disturbing) and the cast is uniformly great, but the abrupt ending makes the movie feel like a waste. Normally I enjoy endings that make you think, but the ending here seems like a case of the writers not knowing where to go. Disappointing, because the movie could've been excellent with a little more effort.

I can't decide if I liked the ending or hated, but either way, it made me truly feel for this twisted, broken girl.

It's in his directing - it's superbly acted, shot and staged - that Durkin shines. The writing, less so. The story's exploration of paranoia and identity seems not completely followed through, hence a bit unsatisfying.

This movie deals with the aftermath after the main character escapes from a cult. Elizabeth Olsen's performance is great in this film. The script jumps around a lot but this adds to the enjoyment of the film. I would recommend this interesting drama.

A fine character study which is held together by a brilliantly nuanced performance by Elizabeth Olsen as the traumatised Martha. The quickness with which she flits between moods of happy-go-lucky, introversion, fear and panic is never more effective than when the director subtly brings her/us from a flashback back into the present. With this, he makes memory a much more realistic concept than most films manage to depict. Disturbing and worrying, but somehow a joy to watch.

Wont recruit many new members to the creepy hippie cults of America. A horror film without the slashing, but were the scars of the mind is just as haunting.

A claustrophobic, powerful film about paranoia and a woman haunted by her recent past.

The idea is much better than the movie itself.

Not a thriller at all, I don't know why that's there. Very pretty, but I didn't like much about any character.

Disturbing, irritating and so... I get the idea, i feel the whole thing but yet i got bored. Strange.

There are moments that are beautiful and terrible to watch at the same time.

I mean the ending was awful

at least Patrick had good music taste

Difficult to enjoy. (unfinished)

A strong performance from Olsen and another great one from Hawkes make this film well worth watching. Paulson also does very well.

Deeply affecting and discomforting with hazy visuals and a leisurely pace.

Somehow, I really wanted this to be better. As a psychological mystery puzzle, as it kind of aims at being in the beginning, it's a bit unfulfilling but the pretty images and the general level mystery keeps it alive right until the end, which is also a bit unfulfilling.

Besides Olsen being pretty good I thought the movie ok but it just wasn't anything special. and agreed with dst7175 ending was terrible.

An effective and chilling psychological drama that manages to create a compelling and sympathetic character at the center of it all. The performances are stand-out, while the largely subjective viewpoint is used remarkably well (Durkin is able to make Martha's sister and husband sympathetic, even through the eyes of Martha). However, the film feels overwritten, with info withheld not because of the human experience in the film, but simply to create more anticipation or dread.

The film establishes a wonderfully uncomfortable mood early and manages to hold it throughout. Olsen's performance lives up to the hype.

This film completely nails what damage paranoia can cause, and it is done in such a well put together time-shifting narrative. Very strong performances by the two sisters, and an absolutely creepy John Hawkes. However, woe is the ambiguous ending. It works sometimes, and other times it just leaves an unsatisfied taste.

What was the point of showing us this much violence? The story didn't come together for me in the end. I loved the acts though.

The movie is to Elizabeth Olsen as Winter's Bone is to Jennifer Lawrence, representing the arrival of a young new talent who appears in and dominates damn near every frame (both backed up by a steely, somewhat terrifying John Hawkes). Winter's Bone is a little heavier on story, this one more on character, so while "joining a psycho cult is bad!" isn't exactly a daring message, Martha is an engaging enough lead that I really admired the film. Loved the ending too.

What the F is up with that ending?

Moves slow but effectively builds tension, even if it never builds up to the climax that seems to be intended. I wish it coalesced better. Martha, the character, is very frustrating; her muted emotions and unfamiliar dynamic with her sister add to the film's growing sense of dread just by the nature of her being so complicated. Olsen plays the role well. The fragmented chronology is one of the film's greatest assets; it expresses Martha's state-of-mind better than any other aspect of the film.

if there's one point of contention, it's that for 100+ minutes we have no idea what martha thinks about the commune (she runs away yet repeatedly defends it), which is interesting, but when that fails to change even slightly in the important final minute, it's a despondence that quickly - if only temporarily, becomes alienating and opens an unflattering possibility of complicity in her very near future.

Tasteful production cant mask an uneventful movie.

It's actually a really good character study in a subtle way. For example, like one person on here said; she runs away yet defends it. This is interesting and well done because sometimes victims of abuse are like that. It becomes ingrained in them. I just thought the way they handled her was really well done... not heavy handed yet accurate. It was never boring, sometimes terrifying. Honestly I'm not sure on the ending... gotta think about it more.

The film's atmosphere never really creates the sort of oppressive and surreal mood that seems to have been intended. It's a well-made movie but never particularly memorable or engaging. In fact, the story is kind of weak and one-note.