10 Harrowing Movies You Can’t Watch Twice
3. Martyrs
A woman being flayed alive, child torture, and entire family gunned down in revenge - these are just a few of the unpleasant things French indie horror Martyrs throws at you during its 94-minute run. Is it any wonder people rarely come back for seconds?
The movie follows a young woman seeking vengeance on the group who tortured her as a child. Revenge flicks are common in the horror genre, but Martyrs is one like no other, as it deals with weighty themes such as guilt and the afterlife.
The payback mission uncovers the truth about the sinister group that subjected the protagonist to hell in her youth. They're a cult hoping to gain transcendental insight into the world beyond this one by torturing young women during sick experiments.
France is known for its great indie horror, and Martyrs might just be its most underappreciated addition to the genre. Steer clear of the US remake that came out in 2015, though. That's a different form of torture altogether.