Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Director:

Sean Durkin

Writer:

Sean Durkin (written by)

Release Date:

21 December 2011 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Haunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia, a damaged woman struggles to re-assimilate with her family after fleeing an abusive cult.

Plot Keywords:

Cult | Memory | Brother In Law | Paranoia | Catskills

Awards:

16 wins & 41 nominations

Cast

Elizabeth Olsen	...	Martha
Christopher Abbott	...	Max
Brady Corbet	...	Watts
Hugh Dancy	...	Ted
Maria Dizzia	...	Katie
Julia Garner	...	Sarah
John Hawkes	...	Patrick
Louisa Krause	...	Zoe
Sarah Paulson	...	Lucy
Adam David Thompson	...	Bartender (as Adam Thompson)
Allen McCullough	...	Man in Home #2
Lauren Molina	...	Cult Member
Louisa Braden Johnson	...	Cult Member
Tobias Segal	...	Cult Member
Gregg Burton	...	Man in Home #1
Barbara Aragon	...	Extra
Donald E. Benjamin	...	Extra
Stacie A. Blaut	...	Extra
Carole L. Brookman	...	Extra
Heather Boyd	...	Extra
Ellie Brooks	...	Extra
Richard S. Clark Jr.	...	Extra
Sal Crescitelli	...	Extra
Josephine E. DeSimone	...	Extra
Jarret Featherbay	...	Extra
Jill Halpern Steingart	...	Extra
Jonathan Huppke	...	Extra
Louis H. Jawitz	...	Extra
Fred A. Kahn	...	Extra
Heather M. Kayal	...	Extra (as Heather M. Kayak)
Jin Kyung Kim	...	Extra
Ava K. Levy-Lynn	...	Extra
Franco C. Lisacchi	...	Extra
Nancy I. Mahoney	...	Extra
Joanne McDonough	...	Extra
John F. McDonough	...	Extra
James P. Minoux	...	Extra
Annette Nazari	...	Extra
J. Clifford Noonan	...	Extra
Claire Payevsky	...	Extra
Dalton Powell	...	Extra
Jackson Powell	...	Extra
Peyton Powell	...	Extra
Samantha Powell	...	Extra
Christopher Roe	...	Extra
Aziza O. Simpkins	...	Extra
Judith M. Skordinski	...	Extra
Jessica K. Smith	...	Extra
Beth Stephens	...	Extra
Jot Stephens	...	Extra
Jennifer L. Vega	...	Extra
Rahmel Thomas Walker	...	Extra
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Chmiel	...	Scruffy Man (uncredited)
Diana Masi	...	Cult Member (uncredited)

Directed by
Sean Durkin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sean Durkin		written by

Produced by
Antonio Campos	....	producer
Andrew Corkin	....	co-producer (as Andrew D. Corkin)
Patrick Cunningham	....	producer
Ted Hope	....	executive producer
Saemi Kim	....	executive producer
Saerom Kim	....	executive producer
Chris Maybach	....	producer
Josh Mond	....	producer
Matt Palmieri	....	executive producer
Brett Potter	....	associate producer
Melody C. Roscher	....	line producer (as Melody Roscher)
Alexander Schepsman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Danny Bensi
Saunder Jurriaans

Cinematography by
Jody Lee Lipes

Film Editing by
Zachary Stuart-Pontier		(as Zac Stuart-Pontier)

Casting by
Randi Glass
Susan Shopmaker

Production Design by
Chad Keith

Art Direction by
Jonathan Guggenheim

Costume Design by
David Tabbert

Makeup Department
Jessica Kelleher	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Garrett P. Fennelly	....	unit production manager (as Garrett Fennelly)
Susan Lazarus	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ramona Adair	....	second assistant director
Tomas Deckaj	....	first assistant director
Anne Marie Dentici	....	second assistant director
Michele Erdman	....	second second assistant director
Zachary Stuart-Pontier	....	second unit director (as Zac Stuart-Pontier)

Art Department
Shawn Annabel	....	property master
Yvette Granata	....	set dresser
Esther Kim	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Coll Anderson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Coll Anderson	....	supervising sound editor
Micah Bloomberg	....	production sound mixer
John Chiarolanzio	....	assistant sound editor (as John Chirarolanzio)
Steve F.B. Smith	....	sound consultant: Dolby
Matt Snedecor	....	sound effects editor
John Soukup	....	sound transfer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
David Tecson	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Chad Hessler	....	stunt double: Hugh Dancy
Abby Nelson	....	stunt double: Elizabeth Olsen
Kevin Rogers	....	stunt double: Brady Corbet
Anthony Vincent	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Josh M. Allen	....	gaffer (as Josh Allen)
Joe Anderson	....	director of photography: second unit
Joe Anderson	....	first assistant camera
Noah Chamis	....	camera production assistant
Destin Douglas	....	second assistant camera
Alexander Engel	....	key grip
Josh Fordham	....	best boy grip
David Gettens	....	electric production assistant
Sarah Guenther	....	underwater camera operator
Drew Innis	....	still photographer
David Kavanaugh	....	best boy electric
Burton May	....	grip production assistant
Jeff Peixoto	....	second assistant camera
Greta Zozula	....	camera loader
Gustavo Brum	....	epk cinematographer (uncredited)
Dave Han	....	electrician (uncredited)

Animation Department
Tim Van Horn	....	animator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dominic Andolina	....	wardrobe assistant
Dorothy Barangan	....	wardrobe assistant
Blake Glover	....	assistant costume designer
Leslie Paddoll	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Amalia Bradstreet	....	post-production assistant
Don Ciana	....	color timer
Sam Daley	....	colorist: dailies
Sam Daley	....	digital intermediate colorist
Jessica Elvin	....	digital intermediate editor
Barbara Jean Kearney	....	digital intermediate account executive
Eric Leverenz	....	digital imaging
D.C. Marcial	....	assistant editor (as Dean C. Marcial)
Patrick McGuinn	....	dailies project manager
Phil McLennan	....	laboratory production manager
Bernadette Nieves	....	film recording producer
Patrick Rossi	....	film recording
Misako Shimizu	....	assistant editor
Alessandro Soares	....	film recording
Andrew Still	....	digital intermediate data manager
Kevin Vale	....	digital intermediate producer
Michael P. Whipple	....	digital intermediate engineer
Victoria Anderson	....	colorist assistant (uncredited)
Mark Reaser	....	hd mastering (uncredited)

Other crew
Stephanie Clough	....	chef assistant
Will Corkin	....	production assistant
Amy Crowdis	....	production coordinator
Grant Curatola	....	location manager
Brendan Donohue	....	production assistant
Pete Donohue	....	production assistant (as Peter Donohue)
John William Donovan Corkin	....	production assistant
Scott Helgert	....	stand-in
Martin Jones	....	legal services: Pryor Cashman
Zorinah Juan	....	script supervisor
Katie Kramer	....	key production assistant
Julianne Maiello	....	assistant chef
Junior Mitil	....	film runner (as Junior Mitel)
Matthew Snetzko	....	production assistant
Lloyd Steele	....	legal services: Pryor Cashman
Josh Stern	....	assistant: Ted Hope
Peter Van Hyning	....	chef assistant
Lee Walker	....	production assistant
W. Wilder Knight II	....	legal services: Pryor Cashman
Amber Zeglen	....	chef
Ian M. Stratford	....	financial counsel (uncredited)
David Tecson	....	title designer (uncredited)

Thanks
Joan Darling	....	special thanks
Raúl Esparza	....	special thanks
Rose Ganguzza	....	special thanks
Gyula Gazdag	....	special thanks
Lesli Linka Glatter	....	special thanks
Ed Harris	....	special thanks
Drew Kuhse	....	thanks
Doug McGrath	....	special thanks
James Rasin	....	thanks
Robert Redford	....	special thanks
Brad Silberling	....	special thanks
Joan Tewkesbury	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Fox Searchlight Pictures (presents)
• Cunningham & Maybach Films (as Maybach Cunningham) (presents)
• Maybach Film Productions (presents)
• FilmHaven Entertainment (presents)
• BorderLine Films
• This Is That Productions (as This Is That) (in association with)

Distributors

• Fox Searchlight Pictures (2011) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2011) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2012) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Netherlands (2012) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (through Warner Bros.)
• 20th Century Fox (2011) (Canada) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2012) (France) (theatrical)
• Big Picture 2 Films (2012) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Hispano Foxfilms S.A.E. (2012) (Spain) (theatrical) (as Hispano Foxfilm S.A.E.)
• Odeon (2012) (Greece) (theatrical)
• SPO (2013) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Tour de Force (2012) (Norway) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox C.I.S. (2012) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2012) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (through)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan (2013) (Japan) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2012) (Argentina) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2012) (Argentina) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2012) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2012) (Argentina) (all media)
• Film1 (2013) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Germany (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2012) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Edgeworx Studios (uncredited)

Other Companies

• Act Zero Films  production services
• Bristow Films  thanks
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Edgeworx Studios  titles and opticals
• Film Emporium  production insurance
• Gray Krauss Des Rochers  legal services
• Pryor Cashman  legal services
• Technicolor New York  digital intermediate and technical support
• UTA Independent Film Group  representation

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing violent and sexual content, nudity and language

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #46820) | Ireland:16 | Sweden:15 | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Australia:MA15+ | South Korea:18 | Portugal:M/16 | UK:15 | Norway:15 | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:16 | Japan:PG12 | Italy:VM14

Filming Locations:

Tennanah Lake, Roscoe, New York, USA

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Trivia:

Shot over 20 days.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Watts:[as Martha runs away] Marcy! Marcy May! Where ya goin'?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Cinema Snob: Guyana: Cult of the Damned (#4.6)" (2012)

More Than Meets the Eye

Sean Durkin's first feature is quite the trip. Durkin's sensibility as a director shines with this film, and shows undeniable promise. The really crazy thing about this film is that it's quietness is only juxtaposed by the really messed up things that are happening in the plot. An intriguing analytical mess of reality, memory, and fantasy, Martha Marcy May Marlene is about a paranoia, an extreme desire to escape the past, though it always comes back to haunt you. It is the isolation and the trouble that comes with that, that Martha really suffers from-- the cult has a certain way of thinking and the film geniously explores the psychological persuasion into a way of thinking…the way that the cult tries to make their ethics and morality universal is a terrifying, and intriguing thing. Elizabeth Olsen does a helluva job as Martha, giving her dewey eyed complexity, both bewilderment, shock, disgust, and intrigue. She gives quiet moments great momentum, and is an actress to keep an eye on. Jody Lee Lipes' cinematography is eerily distant and then uncomfortably close; the mixed bag reflects Martha's psyche in an interesting way. The scariest thing about Martha Marcy May Marlene is that it actually could happen. It may have even benefited from taking that dive a bit further, let us know just how paranoid and altered Martha is, and especially contrasting that with the old Martha, and the only complaint I might have is that we never get to see what the original Martha was like; it is only inferred as to why she would even accept and join this group in the first place, or what exactly she was running away from. But perhaps that makes the film only more intriguing—running away brought her to this society, and of course it looks fine on the outside, with it's acceptable living conditions and always a "family' of sorts around you. But, ah, there's always more than meets the eye. B+