“Martyrs” (2008) – One of the most depraved, if not the most depraved, films that AHFW has ever seen!
A young girl, Lucie, escapes a decrepit industrial location where she was tortured for a year. Over a decade later, she (Mylene Jampanoi) suddenly bursts into a comfortable suburban home and massacres an entire family.
Her friend, Anna (Morjana Alaoui), is shocked but helps Lucie clean up the carnage.
Why did Lucie attack this ordinary family? Is there a connection to the torture she received as a kid? Well, Anna becomes caught in this Lucie’s twisted logic and fears, as director/writer Pascal Laugier leads us down figurative and literal dark passageways to the worst of humanity.
This beyond brutal movie isn’t for most audiences. This critic only saw it once, and won’t see it again. However, there is a method to Laugier’s madness but you have to stay to the end of this 99-minute horrific marathon to find out.
Ugh…you’ve been warned.
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: 5
Morjana Alaoui stars in “Martyrs” (2008)
Morjana Alaoui stars in “Rock the Casbah” (2013) with Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif stars in “Hidalgo” (2004) with Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen stars in “Eastern Promises” (2007) with Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts stars in “21 Grams” (2003) with Sean Penn
Sean Penn stars in “Mystic River” (2003) with Kevin Bacon
Directed and written by: Pascal Laugier
Starring: Morjana Alaoui, Mylene Jampanoi, and Patricia Tulasne
Runtime: 99 minutes
Rated: R
Image credits: Wild Bunch, TCB Film, Eskwad
