This movie is interesting as it is about a cult but will leave you feeling like the victim of a con job. Critics have given this movie rave reviews (while inexplicably being lukewarm to stronger films like Ides of March), but make no mistake: I did not see one person leave the theater that looked like they were truly happy with it, and at least ten were giving different sentiments that sounded negative. This is one of those vague, arid independent movies that tries hard to look serious but just comes off looking phony. It’s all long pauses and random scenes trying to gel into a profound picture…it will for some but won’t for most.
What Works: John Hawkes gives a very strong performance as the paternalistic, frighteningly territorial leader of the cult. He builds on the impressive resume of scene stealing that already includes Deadwood, Contagion, and an Oscar nomination for Winter’s Bone. Elizabeth Olsen–yes, the kid sister of the Olsen twins–gives a performance that is also (mostly) terrific as the title character who joins up with the cult and later tries to reintegrate society with her upscale, cold sister (shown simultaneously). The movie’s chief strength is being able to put us in Elizabeth’s addled head as it cuts from the past with the cult to the present with her sister and also sequences that may be make believe.
What Doesn’t Work: But how interesting is that head? Underneath all the smoke and mirrors, the answer is “not very.” She’s more or less a blank canvas, less a character, than a concept for one. Also, the movie tries to make a statement about Martha’s brutally defensive and insufferably shallow sister and brother-in-law, but that never becomes quite clear…much like everything in the movie. Everything is a muddle, including what, exactly, the cult of the movie actually believes in. We’re never really shown what the philosophy is, making it more of a somewhat violent commune. The movie just generally acts disinterested with questions beneath the absolute surface of what we’re watching.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Spent more time working out a plot diagram. Actually shown important flashbacks that detail how Martha hooked up with cult, why she was so drawn to it in the first place, what the cult believes in, etc. instead of just “Watch Martha wash the dishes a few times at the cult farm. Watch Martha watch someone else play guitar at the cult farm.” You could still show more interesting scenes and keep the experimental point-of-view of Martha’s head.