Other Olson shines in ‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’

No question, it cannot be easy to get out of the shadow of two striking, impossibly thin, trend-setting, multi-million dollar-making, older twin sisters.

“Martha Marcy May Marlene”

Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, John Hawkes

Directed by Sean Durkin

Grade: B+

No question, it cannot be easy to get out of the shadow of two striking, impossibly thin, trend-setting, multi-million dollar-making, older twin sisters.

But starring as a psychologically damaged young woman in a film riddled with such controversial themes as cults, sexual violence and paranoia seems like a good starting point. Following in the footsteps of recently initiated it-girl Elle Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, star of Fox Searchlight’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” is the next celebrity little sister to strike out on her own. And, boy, can she play crazy.

Olsen stars as Martha, a confused young woman trying to adapt to life in her sister’s home after escaping a commune-like cult where she was regularly subjected to violence and assault. Returning to the world she left is a rocky transition, especially with constant reminders of the terrors of her past coming in the forms of nightmares and flashbacks.

One of the most remarkable features of the film is the way that it subtly and fluidly transitions between past and present, memory and reality. Scenes switch from the present — Martha at her sister’s house — to the past — Martha in her life at the commune, where she was known as Marcy May. These shifts are startling for the audience, who is not always aware at what time some moments take place until a few lines into the scene. At one point she’s talking and cooking dinner and it seems that she might be back in the cult — until she says a cult member’s name and the camera pans back to her sister, asking who that is. These scenes are likely just as jarring for Martha, who seems to be living in both worlds.

While the plot is captivating, the weak points in the movie are evident. As with any solid psychological thriller, it leaves the viewer wondering what exactly just happened, and much is up for interpretation. But while the audience gets the feeling that perhaps Martha is just as confused by the events of her past as they are, some of the unanswered questions — like how she got involved in the cult — turn out to be more distracting than thought-provoking. And if you require a sense of closure at the end of a film, prepare to be disappointed.

The strongest area of the movie is the acting. Olsen’s wide eyes and tortured expression continue to haunt long after the film is over, and the supporting characters remain believable in their respective roles, especially Hawkes as the shudder-inducing cult leader Patrick and Paulson as Martha’s yuppie sister, Lucy.

While the story could have used a little more fine-tuning, “Martha Marcy May Marlene” does what it sets out to do by providing an entrancing and haunting story of a woman on the verge of psychological collapse. Olsen gives a truly compelling performance that is likely to leave viewers wondering, “Mary-Kate and Ashley who?”