Martyrs: A Movie Review

Martyrs
Directed by: Pascal Laugier
Starring: Morjana Alaoui and Mylène Jampanoï


Synopsis:

The Brotherhood of the Wolf director Pascal Lauguier follows his 2004 thriller House of Voices with this relentlessly brutal tale of a girl who suffered unimaginable abuse as a young child, and the unspeakable horrors that unfold when she arrives at an isolated cabin in the woods fifteen years later. The story begins as the young, badly battered Lucie (Mylène Jampanoï) -- obviously the victim of inhuman abuse -- is hospitalized after somehow managing to escape her sadistic captors. Nearly catatonic after her life-altering ordeal, Lucie only manages to become functional again as a result of her friendship with Anna (Morjana Alaoui), a fellow abuse victim who selflessly reaches out to the badly damaged girl. Fifteen years later, Lucie guns down an entire family in cold blood. Is Lucie seeking belated vengeance against the people who tortured her as a young girl, or has her fragile psyche finally snapped, resulting in the bloody demise of an innocent family? Later, when Lucie calls on her old friend Anna, the truth about Lucie's traumatic early life experience slowly comes into focus. Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

[from barnesandnoble.com]

Let me start off by saying this movie was amazing, to me. I'm sure there are many people who won't be able to get through either the violence or graphic images, but the beauty about the movie is that it's supposed to be gruesome and make the viewer a little sick to their stomach. It's a hard movie to sit through, beccause it transcends the horror genre. The acting was amazing from both Morjana and Mylène, both of whom I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for. Their performances took the movie to a higher level than it might have been with another cast.

The first half was just nonstop, I loved it. The second half, while I liked the cult and how they were presented and tied into the film, it dragged a little. Still good, just a little slower paced than the first half.

I wouldn't recommend watching this dubbed, you have to watch it in French. And I wouldn't recommend it to people who have a light stomach. Some of the scenes may be hard for you to handle.

Overall, it's one of my favorite horror movies. It's intelligent, it leaves the viewer with an open and questioning mind, and it has great acting.

My rating: 8/10