Martha Marcy May Marlene is a film which demands to be discussed, debated and theorized about, as the film and it’s message are both controversial and many-layered. This is a groundbreaking achievement in filmmaking, a highly uncomfortable, bleak and beautiful look at how a cult and its leader can forever change the life and psyche of a young woman.

This debut feature is written and directed by Sean Durkin, and stars a mesmerizing Elizabeth Olsen as Martha, alias Marcy May, a young woman who abandons society and joins a sort of commune in upstate New York. The film doesn’t follow any kind of conventional storytelling, it instead interweaves Martha’s time in this mysterious cult with her life after she escapes the cult and its charismatic, terrifying leader Patrick, played magnificently by Oscar-nominee John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone).

Martha Marcy May Marlene is a psychological thriller to its core. The film challenges our comfortability from start-to-finish, as Sean Durkin has a directorial eye far beyond his years in creating a very bleak, often claustrophobic atmosphere throughout both worlds in which Martha inhabits.

In a rather ingenuous plot move, the film opens with Martha’s escape from the “compound” of the cult, as we’re lulled into a false sense of thinking Martha is now safe. But as she is taken in by her sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson, “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”) and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy, Black Hawk Down), things just don’t seem to get any better.

Martha begins to settle in with Lucy and Ted at their fancy vacation home in Connecticut, and as we are given more and more snapshots of her time in the cult it becomes more and more plain that some wounds simply cannot be healed. Martha struggles to restart her life in the real world, and at the same time is terrorized by what went on in the cult. Through the glimpses into her past life, the damage and brainwashing which occurs at the hands of Patrick and the rest of her supposedly loving and caring “family” on this New York farm is absolutely chilling.

With the combination of an outstanding script and direction, as well as simply remarkable acting, the reality of the tenderness of life is palpable throughout the film. Martha’s at times loving, at times terrifying interactions with Patrick is beautifully mirrored in her later relationship with her sister. Durkin has managed to shed a light on the complete transformation Martha underwent in the two years she spent in this cult. Yes, there are more obvious, external changes in behavior for Martha which are all-to-clear to both Lucy and Ted. But the deeper, more internal, psychological damage Martha has sustained slowly begins to reveal itself with each and every flashback to her life on the farm, as her involvement in and witnessing of true horrors begin to come forth.

The two lead performances from Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes have garnered consistent praise, which in both cases is well-earned. For Olsen, the far more talented younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, she has managed to portray the innocent and damaged soul of Martha, who was so prone to be molded into something entirely different by those who took advantage of her. John Hawkes, meanwhile, has managed to create a character unlike many that exist in film. The at once charismatic and inviting personality of Patrick mirrored by the unpleasant and disturbing qualities bubbling on the surface.

Durkin has fashioned an all-to-real world of paranoia. Within his long, fluid takes and sharp editing, he has managed to create a mesmerizing and challenging balance between reality and the unknown of the human mind. With each passing second, it becomes clear that Durkin isn’t going to pull any punches, the audience is truly in for the long-haul. In fact, there are moments of spine-tingling chills of the likes you’d expect from a Paranormal Activity movie, the haunting manner of the film is that intense and real.

Martha Marcy May Marlene is a magnificently conceived and executed film, with performances, direction, and a script that demands attention and discussion from its audience. The film is a difficult one to handle, as it is a deeply disturbing and uncomfortably haunting portrayal of emotion and psychological terror. While it is an absolute triumph of filmmaking, the cold and difficult manner of the film makes it hard to truly appreciate or be deemed enjoyable.

Grade: A-

Rating: R (For disturbing violent and sexual content, nudity and language.)

Martha Marcy May Marlene is currently playing in NY & LA and will open in additional markets this Friday and throughout November.