Maybe some will disagree with me, or maybe there'll be a backlash from all this praise, but I was really, really impressed by Olson here. Incredible screen presence. Like, magnetic. That combined with her somewhat naturalistic style literally conjured up memories of, like, 'Five Easy Pieces' Nicholson or something, as crazy as that might sound. I'm not saying she's in that Nicholson or early Pacino class or anything, but she was damn good. The movie succeeds in large part due to her and Hawkes.

I thought the movie itself was really strong too. I've seen some people complain a little about the deliberately confusing cutting back and forth between the past and the present, but I think it was pretty effective in showing how Martha's mind is consumed with those memories/nightmares and how they basically render her incapable of having a "normal" life.


SPOILERS:


I liked the ending. I don't always like that "cut to black" trick, but in this case I thought it worked. The last few minutes let the audience know exactly how Martha felt, and how she'd feel the rest of her life until she gets help. Paranoid, fearful, not knowing what's going to happen. Again, Olson's acting here is great. She's paranoid - she knows she's paranoid - she's trying to suppress it - but she's not totally able to.

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