if walking around screen looking detached and lost and crumbling into a fetal position every 10min is GREAT acting, i need to push some of my nieces in that direction. In all seriousness Olsen held it down, I definitely felt i was watching a young woman experience the trauma of being raped, manipulated, and witnessing a murder, BUT it did not have the grit, gravitas or internal machinations of say Michelle in Blue Valentine or Portman in Black Swan.

the film overall was well executed. i enjoyed how it fluidly moved from the life on the farm, to her life in her sisters home to further immerse the viewer in Martha's anxiety and distress. The dread was also carried very well throughout, in particular by another brilliant performance by Hawkes. What a fucn magnetic scumbag creep. The screen was absorbed by his warped-libertarian man of power whenever he appeared on screen. Maria Dizzia as Katie was also a great creepo performance.

Unlike most indy films of the recent times, I liked that shit was actually happening: from her rape, to the scene with her sister fucking, to the murder, but I PERSONALLY needed some resolution. I'm not one to trip about unresolved conflict in films, but here it left the film roaming in an incomplete atmosphere that subverts all of Olsen's emotionality. If we are not going to really get a back story on the two sisters, or have her reveal to her sister what she just went through, and only get random allusions to the farm cult coming, lets have Martha, her sister and hubby finally deal with said cult. Th ending was a cop out to me

anyway 3.5/5