Martha was totally unsympathetic. Unlikeable even.

Her words "I don't know" in response to "what happened to you?" Speaks volumes.

You shouldn't hate her character. All in all - she is a victim. She joined the cult at a very naive time in life. She didn't know who they really were ..."murderers". And the fact she left the cult proves she knew it was bad news.

By the end of it- I just felt super sorry for her. She had no idea what she was getting herself into- and she ended up witnessing ... And enduring some very disturbing things (was basically raped (although she sort of allowed it) and saw an innocent homeowner get murdered for no reason.) she also knows they are looking for her. She will be paranoid for the rest of her life. The whole experience basically tarnished her soul.

You might want to rethink your stance on this film. It took a while for everything to soak in - but it's very well done - very well written- character study. and John hawkes kills it on the acoustic.

8/10. Still thinking about it weeks after seeing it.

I can see why you would have such an opinion - but it gives me the impression you didn't understand the movie very well.
It took me to watch it a second time to really grasp everything and empathize with Martha.

She was pulled from normalcy - at a young age a late teen/early adult you're very impressionable, made to think that possessions aren't something you need; hence her commenting on the size of her sisters house and not wanting to be in photos or accepting of clothing because whilst she was in that cult all of those things weren't necessary items. The scene of her sitting on her sisters kitchen counter, crawling in to bed while her sister and brother in law are having sex, and swimming naked infront of her sisters husband is normal to Martha because whilst being in the cult and being brainwashed (?), she is used to living that style of way.

It deals with her PTSD and paranoia after leaving - feeling and/or knowing that the cult are coming after her, and never feeling like she can leave that part of her life behind. Also too, in a way I felt like after having to go back to social normalities she started to miss the cult - hence ringing them late at night but hanging up in fear.

She was drugged, raped, made to feel a sick-kind-of-special.
I too, feel a sadness for her character and is also a movie that has stuck with me after seeing it.

I suggest watching it again not judging her character so harshly; it's just considered

The Scarlet Witch is totally adorable. Hot even. 

You don't get that this girl is mentally ill?

This is the wider problem there is in society even today, that mental illness, the effects of PTSD, depression, anxiety, the fall-out behaviors of those things, society still misunderstands and judges the behaviors that arise from these conditions, despising the sufferer outright for "not normal" behaviors or unlikeable behaviors, when they are in fact ILL. The person is suffering and unwell.

It's just that it's mental not physically. You wouldn't judge and hate and dislike a person for not being able to dance with you because they had shattered their leg in an accident and are now dealing with loss of mobility. Thus you shouldn't judge a traumatized person who has been a victim of mental trauma.

Yes she was probably damaged to begin with if she so easily joined the cult -- but did you SEE that sister?? The first thing she does when she gets Martha home is tell her off for dripping her wet hair on the bedding!

We get clear signalling in this film, from the portrayal of the sister, that underneath the proprietary niceness, she's a total prick!

We get clear signals that she is shallow, superficial, harsh, brittle, judgemental even before Martha's worse effects start to manifest.

The sister and her husband are of a wealthy, comfortable, "normal" world where they can't even entertain the possibility that Martha can't help what's happening to her ability to cope. They know enough to seek psychological help for her but they still don't know enough not to despise her for her symptoms of PTSD at the same time!

That's the support level Martha came from. . . .

She suffered from ptsd and had some mental issues.

"came off as very judgmental and inconsiderate of others"

The irony of someone saying that about a young, impressionable, traumatized character who spent two years being brainwashed and away from her tiny sliver of family.

I agree. She was a dick.

😎

Not sure we watched the same movie.

I agree with you, to an extent. She was old enough to be responsible for her actions and seen what she was getting sucked into. But she didn't, because I guess cults ask more of you gradually. And they did make a few remarks to hint at a troubled chidhood, that just wasn't the focus.

I think she mocked her sister about wanting to be a mother because she knew that was what would hurt most. Sometimes, especially with siblings, you just go for the jugular. Plus, Martha was sort of like a practice child for them at that point, so the words had heft.

Undressing in front of Ted was meant to highlight a difference of lifestyles. Ted and Lucy, "normal," found it appalling because to them it's inherently sexual and therefore inappropriate. Martha and the cult skinny dip. It's naked, it's natural, they're in nature. The part where Martha also sees no big deal of lying on their bed while they have sex shows this. It wasn't sexual for Martha. She wasn't interested in Ted (though on my first viewing I was worried it would go there and thankful it didn't because that would've felt cheap), she just didn't see the big deal of communal nudity.