Martyrs - 2008

I think I'm still in a state of shock after having just watched this French directed film. It's so harrowing, so relentlessly violent...So depraved that I often questioned why I was watching it in the first place. What I'm trying to say is this is probably not the kind of movie you want to take a girl to see on your first date. I am definitely NOT a fan of the new wave of torture horror ala Hostel, however, Martyrs uses violence more as a plot device. It's not senseless violence if you get me.

The film follows the story of 2 women and is broken into two parts. If I had to name them as chapters I'd call the first "Revenge" and the second "Despair".

The first part is pretty darn awesome. It's very full on in terms of violence, but as mentioned before this fits in with the story and is easier to take because of this. There are some really original ideas here which amplify the tension. I thought the way the main character dealt with her guilt was disturbingly inspired, and very Silent Hill! I wish I could say more about this but to do so would be unfair.

The second chapter is an altogether different beast and the movie really shifts in tone at this point. I was thinking to myself: Oh no, please don't go there. Don't be that awful....No, no, no, noooooooooo. And of course it went there. And it's pretty horrendous. I mean the intro to the second chapter is pretty interesting, it's just that you have to endure the next hour of viewing. You'll know what I mean if you've seen it. I can see why they went down this path and why it dragged on but man, I had to take breaks from this one and I never do that.

The ending wasn't as big a revelation to me as it seemingly was for a lot of people, I kind of expected more given what the second chapter put me through (essentially making me a martyr!!) but I guess it was kind of poetic? It's good in so far as you can interpret it in your own way, but there's not a whole lot to think about after (apart from how many therapy sessions you'll need to get over the previous hours viewing). It's a good movie, possibly even a great one. Definitely not for the faint of heart!