10 Horror Movies That Break The Genre

One of the most underrated thrillers of the 21st century is Martha Marcy May Marlene, the first film and breakthrough for Elizabeth Olsen, who has gone on to become one of our biggest younger stars. The film also has a brilliant ensemble cast, consisting of John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy.

It focuses on a young woman, Martha (Olsen), who escapes from a dangerous cult she was a member of. She returns to her family - her sister, Lucy (Paulson) and Lucy’s husband, Patrick (Dancy) - and begins to become paranoid that she is being stalked by the cult. The drama shifts back and forth from the present to her disturbing time in the cult.

A dark drama that discusses how a traumatic event can derail a young person's life, the film has a really chilling atmosphere to it. In the same vein as the works of Roman Polanski, we are not necessarily sure why everything is so tense, but director Sean Durkin just adds this aura of dread and tension to the air.

Putting us right in Martha's shoes, we become more and more convinced that the cult are still stalking Martha. Plus, the film's series of wide panning shots (in the same vein as the recent horror film The Invisible Man), just adds to this sense of paranoia.