Marth Marcy May
Marlene is a grim, almost nihilistic portrait of a young woman
indoctrinated by a cult with a powerfully coercive leader. The title refers to
the woman’s three names she goes by. Her real name, used only by her sister and
brother-in-law, is Martha. Marcy May is the name given to her by Patrick, just
one of many ways in which he establishes a paternalistic stronghold over the
young women on his farm and a method of stripping their old identity from them
to mold them into his personal harem. Marlene is the name they all use when
answering the phone.
