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Two cults enter, one cult leaves... There can only be one. In this corner, Martha Marcy May Marlene, in which a young woman runs away from home, gets seduced into a cult, then runs away from the cult and tries to go back to being at home. In the other corner, Sound of My Voice, wherein two documentary filmmakers go undercover to expose the truth behind a cult led by a woman who claims to be from the future. Which one is better?

Okay, really obviously, the first one. It's not even that close. But to find out why, read on.

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Sean Durkin's directorial debut was one of the most talked about indie films of 2011, but in the kind of way where it still made no money, despite winning the Sundance Directing Award and being nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. The film garnered attention and accolades because it is a very difficult, impenetrable film, simultaneously very simple and incredibly complex. Durkin doles out information at a deliberate pace that might draw comparisons to the shifting of tectonic plates, but the glacially slow pace of the film is what makes it so effective.

Martha Marcy May Marlene (that's the last time I type out the full name) follows a girl in her late teens as she attempts to readjust to normal life after having lived in a cult in the woods for an undisclosed period of time. We know that Martha has run away from the group, but we don't know why, and we know virtually nothing about what took place during her time there. All we see is that Martha has moved in with her sister Lucy and Lucy's husband Ted, and that she is extremely withdrawn and anti-social, although we really don't know if those traits were impressed on her by the cult or if that is just how she's always been.

Through flashbacks, we are ever so slowly given information about Martha's time in the cult. She is drawn in by other young, attractive, friendly folks who make her feel welcome. She then meets Patrick, the enigmatic leader of the group, who dubs her Marcy May. These early scenes are so effective because Durkin never hits us over the head with the sense that there is seriously wrong with everything that is going on, and yet it is very obvious. There is a sense of foreboding that hangs over practically every scene in a movie, like in that moment in an action movie just before the giant bomb blows up. Except that moment is every scene, and the tension builds and builds until we feel like we are the ones who are about to blow up.

Martha Marcy May Marlene is able to tell its story so well because it is grounded in reality. This very slow (have I mentioned it's slow yet? Because it is) story feels so real, which makes the actions of the characters make so much sense. It is completely understandable why a lonely, isolated girl like Martha would be willing to join a group like this one, because it is the only time she is able to feel welcome and accepted. And the more drawn in she is, the more reasonable she finds the actions of those around her, even as they sail past creepy into very obviously illegal. And when she finally gets the sense to run away, her new normal is seen by those around her as totally inappropriate. A scene as simple as two people swimming in a lake becomes a fascinating character study simply because Martha's behavior has become totally at odds with what is seen as acceptable behavior.

Durkin's filmmaking style is a perfect fit for this kind of story. Lately, using a handheld camera and gritty, natural lighting is the cue from the filmmaker that their movie is honest and real (just ask Gary Ross, who took the idea to its logical extreme for The Hunger Games), but for Durkin it seems like the only way to make the movie. The movie is so slowly paced (seriously, guys, it's a slow movie) that we need to be completely drawn in by what is happening onscreen or we will just get bored. Durkin uses the handheld camera to make it feel like what we are watching is real life, and that we are there, following Martha every step of the way. Despite knowing very little about this character we feel compelled to care about her, and to fear for her safety, because we are following her so closely.

The performances are also crucial to the efficacy of the film. Elizabeth Olsen's performance is so understated that she can occasionally come off as a blank slate, which becomes one of her most compelling character traits. We get the sense that she observes and absorbs everything around her, but that beneath her impenetrable surface there is a void of loneliness that she is desperate to have filled, which is why she is so willing to join the cult. John Hawkes has proven himself adept at playing larger-than-life characters in a very true-to-life fashion. As cult leader Patrick he manages to chew scenery in a subtle way (I guess you could say he chews with his mouth closed), but it is clear every time he smiles or touches Martha why he is the kind of person behind whom lonely, sad people would fall in line. He is so charming and charismatic, but with just a hint of danger in his eyes, and you feel like you have to watch him whenever he is on screen, if only just to make sure he doesn't do something crazy the second you take your eyes off him.

Is Marlene a perfect movie? No. It seems at times too caught up in the questions it is asking, and it makes it clear that it is going to give as few answers at possible, which at times crosses the border from intriguing into annoying. But I do not think there was another way to tell this story without destroying the sense of realism that Durkin creates. By so severely limiting the scope and breadth of his story, Durkin restricts himself from creating something extraordinary, but what he does make is so gripping that it is easy to forgive the film for its limitations, because had it gone too far, it would have risked collapsing on itself. I will take a simple gem over an ambitious failure almost every time.

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