4. Martyrs (2008)
Lucie is a young girl who escapes from a disused abattoir after years of abuse and torture. She is taken to an orphanage where she becomes very close to another girl called Anna in whom she confides about the emaciated, scarred, skeletal woman that haunts her. 15 years later, Lucie walks into a seemingly normal family and blows them all away. She calls Anna to help her clean up - Anna is astounded by the carnage and questions Lucie's judgement but a defeated Lucie is attacked by her demon again. Realising she will never be free, Lucie cuts her throat and dies. When Anna is cleaning up the house she finds a secret underground chamber where a woman has obviously been attacked and tortured for a very long time. She sets the woman free and tries to clean her up and settle her but this is thwarted by the arrival of a bunch of militaristic looking people who shoot the woman dead. They explain that the woman they shot was a prisoner and torture victim of theirs, as was Lucie when she escaped as a girl. They kidnap test subjects to inflict extreme pain upon in the hope that they will find a female who can transcend pain and burst through to the next state of consciousness. However, so far, they have only manufactured 'victims'. Anna is taken prisoner, tied up and subjected to extreme degradation and pain. She hallucinates that Lucie is there and Lucie tells her to break through the barrier. Anna enters a transcendental state. She is flayed by a doctor but survives it. The chairwoman of this sick society asks Anna how she feels and Anna whispers in her ear. At the next meeting of the society, the chairwoman tells the group to keep doubting about life after death and then shoots herself. Probably one of the most trying feats of your movie watching career will be sitting through Martyrs. It packs a punch to the gut. Most of the material dealt with in the film is unconscionable - torturing women so they reach a pain induced nirvana? Now that is sick. It is wrong. But it is fascinating as you sit back and wait for the next denigrating act to take place. The film is well directed and very well acted. It is a highly divisive movie - you will either love it or hate it and it has split critics right down the middle. Many would lump it in with Saw or Hostel as torture porn. It is certainly very bleak and nihilistic. Anyone expecting a horror romp or gorefest is looking at the wrong movie. It's a much more sober undertaking that you can only really experience by watching it yourself.