Martha Marcy May Marlene

Writer/director Sean Durkin scores big with his first feature, a haunting psychological thriller that combines the best elements of the modern low-budget indie movie with cinematic flourishes that recall the great stylistic creepiness of films by Val Lewton and even Ingmar Bergman. The film provides an insider's view of the ways in which cults recruit and retain their members, giving us just enough information to fill in the blanks of what we don't see, and there may be no better movie about how cults work.  John Hawkes is as scary and charismatic here as he was in last year's Winter’s Bone, and star Elizabeth Olson makes a stunning feature début as Martha.  The film puts both Olson and Durkin on the map and sets a high bar of expectation for their next endeavors.