Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Woman suffers PTSD from time spent with mysterious cult.

This first feature from writer-director Sean Durkin, Martha Marcy May Marlene is essentially a 90-minute long panic attack — a foreboding, ominous, atmospheric vision of a former cult member’s PTSD over her time with a dangerous, Mansoneqsue clan. Durkin switches unsettlingly between recollections of Martha’s disturbing past with her seemingly innocuous present-day recovery at her sister and brother-in-law’s picturesque lake house. However, the fear and anxiety from Martha’s previous life inevitably reemerge during her rehabilitation — and, like Martha, the audience becomes vulnerable to the panicky sensation that evil lurks around every mundane corner. Akin to walking on egg shells in Timberlands, Martha Marcy May Marlene is frightfully tense, and features an excellent performance from Elizabeth Olsen.