Martyrs, 2008.
Directed by Pascal Laugier.
Starring Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, Robert Toupin and Patricia Tulasne.
SYNOPSIS:
Fifteen years after escaping from captivity a child abuse victim and her friend set out to exact revenge on those responsible only to discover a world of unimaginable terror and depravity.
Martyrs was something I picked up one DVD during one of my regular bargain-hunting sprees and, not being too big of a fan of French cinema (and ever-increasingly weary of the horror genre), it had sat gathering dust on my shelf for quite some time before I eventually sat down and gave it a spin. I then spent the following hour and a half on a journey into the depths of human suffering and depravity in what I can only describe as one of the most brutal and uncomfortable viewing experiences ever put to film.
The second feature from French writer-director Pascal Laugier, Martyrs begins with a battered and bloodied young girl (Lucie) fleeing from a disused abattoir where she has been held in captivity for an unspecified time. Moving to an orphanage, Lucie makes friends with Anna but is haunted by her experiences and believes she is being stalked by a mysterious creature. Fast-forward fifteen years and an everyday family are sitting down to have breakfast. Their usual small-talk is interrupted by a knock at the door and within minutes the mother, father, son and daughter have all been butchered in a hail of shotgun fire by a crazed young woman.
Having extracted her bloody revenge of those she blames for her imprisonment Lucie calls Anna to help dispose of the bodies and, after packing all of this into the first fifteen to twenty minutes, I was left wondering a) where the film could go next, and b) how it could possibly stretch itself out over the remainder of the running time. As it turned out the film was just getting started and around the midway point it completely shifts gears, leading into a second half that pushes the boundaries of decency and propels the film into the category of extreme cinema.
To give away more of the plot would be to do a disservice, but let me make it abundantly clear… Martyrs is certainly not for the faint of heart. Although comparisons can be drawn to ‘torture porn’ offerings such as Eli Roth’s Hostel, this is a completely different kettle of fish altogether. While the violence in those kinds of films is designed to shock it is also intended to entertain, whereas no enjoyment can be found in the sheer brutality of this film. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect is an extended torture sequence that is so simplistic, so repetitive, and so absolutely plausible that it becomes almost impossible to stomach, and – for those who make it – the worst is yet to come.
It’s difficult to recommend this film as it really is a disturbing piece of cinema that is sure to prove too much for many people. Personally, I thought it was excellent – it moves at an unbelievable pace with fantastic performances from Morjana Alaoui and Mylène Jampanoï as Anna and Lucie – but it is not something that I’m keen to experience again any time in the near future. After its controversial first screening at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Martyrs went on to be labelled as one of the most divisive films of recent times and that it by no means an exaggeration. You will either love it or hate it… if you can last it.
Gary Collinson
Movie Review Archive
Originally published August 5, 2010. Updated July 28, 2019.
