The 4Ms in the title refer to the various names assumed by Elizabeth Olsen’s character during her stint as a member of a patriarchal, manipulative cult that subjugates women and retains a hold over her heart and mind even after she has escaped. John Hawkes, who was so extraordinary in Winter’s Bone, plays the cult leader who dominates his followers through fear and violence. The picture was shot in the Catskills. Director Sean Durkin has created a pervasive sense of dread that mirrors the chilly emotional climate of the cult, which won him the directing award at Sundance. The film played the Cannes and New York film festivals.


“Martha Marcy May Marlene enters so richly into psychological horror it recalls those disturbing dramatizations of Jonestown that were big on TV in the '80s.”—Sara Maria Vizcarrondo, Boxoffice Magazine

“Durkin's film is calm and restrained - but it maintains its atmosphere of escalating dread.”—David Gritten, Daily Telegraph (UK)

“Bypassing the celebrity minefield navigated since childhood by her big sisters, Elizabeth Olsen steps onto the radar as a seriously accomplished actor in this mesmerizing drama, which also marks an assured feature debut for writer-director Sean Durkin.”—David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter