There's an intense emptiness to Martha, a sense of scrambled identity, a feeling that she's dog-paddling in deep, dangerous waters.
That Elizabeth Olsen can bring such full-force confusion to an essentially hollow character is the wonder of "Martha Marcy May Marlene," a purposely disturbing portrait of a damaged psyche. Martha isn't even grasping for answers; she's just floating in fear.
And that fear may be well-founded. Martha has just run away from a farm-based cult in the Northeast. Built around a charismatic figure (angular Oscar nominee John Hawkes from "Winter's Bone," terrifying in a whole new way), Martha is emerging from a world where the women eat after the men, where group orgies are encouraged, where rape is a sacrament and morality is relative.
We learn about the cult in flashbacks as Martha works up the nerve to call her stable sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson), who lives in a lakeside home along with her husband, Ted (Hugh Dancy). Martha has been missing for quite a while, but Lucy has no idea how fragile and remote she has become until she brings her home.
Martha strips to go skinny-dipping without a glance at who may be looking. She crawls into bed with Lucy and Ted as they're making love, then is surprised when they're appalled.
As Lucy and Ted realize how bad off Martha is, Martha begins to sense the cult is coming to reclaim her. And perhaps she's right.
Writer/director Sean Durkin relies enormously on his actors here -- neither Olsen nor Hawkes have much in the way of specifics to work with. Yet they manage to weave fascinating characters out of apparently thin air.
"Martha Marcy" ends on a question; but, in truth, it rides questions throughout. The answers are in the actors' eyes.
'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
Rating: R for disturbing violent and sexual content, nudity and language.
Running time: 2 hours.