Martha Marcy May Marlene
Now showing at the State Theatre
Review by Jeff Meyers of the Metro Times
Grade: B

Why is it that ambiguous endings inspire so much ire in audiences? Must everything be spelled out? If there's one place we can expect for a film to present an open-ended conclusion or a finale that insists that the characters' fates are linked to the imagination of the audience, it has to be indie cinema. After all, isn't the artistic point of making a movie outside the Hollywood system to break the rules, defy convention, and take risks?

Sean Durkin's confident debut, "Martha Marcy May Marlene," appears to adhere to that mindset. A moody, atmospheric study in paranoia and tension, Durkin channels the icy, unsettling dream state of Michael Haneke's work (Cache, The White Ribbon), offering up an evasive and elliptical narrative. And yet, despite his obvious skills as a filmmaker, there is a conventionality to his unconventional drama.

Read the full review here