5 out of 5

Director:Pascal Laugier

Its hard to explain how truly affecting this movie is. Its also unfitting to classify this as horror, though it certainly carries those elements through and through, with some truly creepy jump scares and haunting secret organizations… Its just that Martyrs exceeds any expectations that could be had by hearing of it through film circles, or by reading the description. Whether loved for its brazen questions or loathed for its bleakness, it is, at the very least… affecting. Anyhow. Martyrs starts with a young girl who, after escaping tortorous captors, hangs around foster homes until bonding with a friend with whom she stays in contact into young adulthood. We rejoin her at this 20ish age, where she is planning on revenge on those she belives imprisoned her in her youth. This is the horror portion of the movie. We know something is amiss as viewers, but I was still completely unprepared for the direction the film would take in its latter half, where it forces those who stick with it through some gruelingly powerful images and concepts. The reveals of the underlying concept of the title and plot are staggering, and the violence and brutality that has taken place serves to fuel thought rather than just to shock. It is a very dark movie, and it is very gory. It is also one of the best movies I have ever seen.