History YMMV / MarthaMarcyMayMarlene

* EarWorm: "Well she, she's just a picture..."

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Interestingly, while the movie does generate sympathy for Martha, it also makes Ted seem reasonable in his view of her as a leech. There seems to be an implication that the only reason why Patrick was able to get so many people to give up possessions and live with him in the middle of nowhere was because most of them knew that if the whole thing went South, their families would bail them out (one of the members even notes that whenever the cult is in need of money, she can ask her father for help, who's happy to give her money so long as she doesn't spend it on drugs). So basically, "hippies are social parasites." Though given it was inspired by the Manson family it’s more of a cult than real hippies.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Interestingly, while the movie does generate sympathy for Martha, it also makes Ted seem reasonable in his view of her as a leech. There seems to be an implication that the only reason why Patrick was able to get so many people to give up possessions and live with him in the middle of nowhere was because most of them knew that if the whole thing went South, their families would bail them out (one of the members even notes that whenever the cult is in need of money, she can ask her father for help, who's happy to give her money so long as she doesn't spend it on drugs). So basically, "hippies are social parasites."

* JerkassWoobie: Martha herself. She can be hostile, unsufferable and even downright bizarre, but after everything she has been through, can you blame her? [[spoiler:The ending leaves it ambiguous whether or not she'll make a recover.]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Interestingly, while the movie does generate sympathy for Marcy, it also makes Ted seem reasonable in his view of her as a leech. There seems to be an implication that the only reason why Patrick was able to get so many people to give up possessions and live with him in the middle of nowhere was because most of them knew that if the whole thing went South, their families would bail them out (one of the members even notes that whenever the cult is in need of money, she can ask her father for help, who's happy to give her money so long as she doesn't spend it on drugs). So basically, "hippies are social parasites."

* NoEnding: We don't ever find out if the cult is real, if the man following them is a cultist, if he tries to attack them, if he follows them so the cult can come after Martha later, if she ever gets over her obvious mental health issues, if she ever tells her sister what is going on, or if she ever repairs her relationship with her sister (assuming she isn't killed by the cult). If the cult is real we also don't see if they eventually get shut down over the murder, rape, and implied infanticide. If it isn't real we have one clue (a fragment of an excuse about a boyfriend) as to what might have really happened to Martha and nothing else. It would be as if Black Swan had ended twenty minutes earlier, mid-scene.
** Arguably, this is the overall point of the film. The true focus of the story is Martha showing, admitting and eventually seeking help for her mental problems, rather than Martha running away from the cult.

* AwardSnub: No Oscar nomination for Olsen, especially when it was highly predicted?

** Not to mention nothing for JohnHawkes.

* NoEnding: We don't ever find out if the cult is real, if the man following them is a cultist, if he tries to attack them, if he follows them so the cult can come after Martha later, if she ever gets over her obvious mental health issues, if she ever tells her sister what is going on, and if she ever repairs her relationship with her sister (assuming she isn't killed by the cult). If the cult is real we also don't see if they eventually get shut down over the murder, rape, and implied infanticide. If it isn't real we have one clue (a fragment of an excuse about a boyfriend) as to what might have really happened to Martha and nothing else. It would be as if Black Swan was made even more ambiguous by ending the movie twenty minutes earlier mid-scene.

* NoEnding: We dont ever find out if the cult is real, if the man following them is a cultist, if he tries to attack them, if he follows them so the cult can come after Martha later, if she ever gets over her obvious mental health issues, if she ever tells her sister what is going on, and if she ever repairs her relationship with her sister (assuming she isnt killed by the cult). If the cult is real we also dont see if they eventually get shut down over the murder, rape, and implied infanticide. If it isnt real we have one clue (a fragment of an excuse about a boyfriend) as to what might have really happened to Martha and nothing else. It would be as if Black Swan was made even more ambigious by ending the movie twenty minutes earlier mid-scene.

* NoEnding: We dont ever find out if the cult is real, if the man following them is a cultist, if he tries to attack them, if he follows them so the cult can come after Martha later, if she ever gets over her obvious mental health issues, if she ever tells her sister what is going on, and if she ever repairs her relationship with her sister (assuming she isnt killed by the cult). If the cult is real we also dont see if they eventually get shut down over the murder, rape, and implied infantacide. If it isnt real we have one clue (a fragment of an excuse about a boyfriend) as to what might have really happened to Martha and nothing else. It would be as if Black Swan was made even more ambigious by ending the movie twenty minutes earlier mid-scene.

* NightmareFuel: This sums up the entire film. It is one of the few non-silent films that does not use or need extensive dialogue to explain what is going on. Much of it lies at the level of subtext (see the [[Fridge/MarthyMarcyMayMarlene fridge horror]] section for more information).

* NightmareFuel: This sums up the entire film. It is one of the few non-silent films that does not use or need extensive dialogue to explain what is going on.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Unstable family member suddenly returns after a long disappearance. Said family member is welcomed home and starts exhibiting behaviors that are not social norms. Martha's sister, Lucy, and her husband/Martha's brother-in-law, Ted, spend a lot of time bickering and debating over what to do *with* her rather than ask her more pointed questions.
** The scene that illustrates this is Martha's panic attack at a party hosted by Lucy and Ted. [[spoiler: She recognizes a bartender as one of the cult members.]] They calm her down but there is no follow-up to the effect of: "What happened? What did you see?"
** Also of note: Martha never asks Lucy if Lucy went looking for her. There were hints of a strained relationship between the sisters before Martha disappeared. When Martha comes back, Lucy makes a lot of "parenting"/"motherly" speeches to Martha about her unusual behavior. There isn't an indication that they are even sisters until it's given away two-thirds into the film. It could be because of an implied wide age discrepancy between the two (plus or minus 5-10 years, perhaps?).
** Interestingly, while the movie does generate sympathy for Marcy, it also makes Ted seem reasonable in his view of her as a leech. There seems to be an implication that the only reason why Patrick was able to get so many people to give up possessions and live with him in the middle of nowhere was because most of them knew that if the whole thing went South, their families would bail them out (one of the members even notes that whenever the cult is in need of money, she can ask her father for help, who's happy to give her money so long as she doesn't spend it on drugs). So basically, "hippies are social parasites."

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: This sums up the entire film. It is one of the few non-silent films that does not use or need extensive dialogue to explain what is going on. A great example in this troper's opinion is when Ted tells Martha how long she had been gone. The look on Martha's face is a mix of shock and horror; she had no idea.

** Interestingly, while the movie does generate sympathy for Marcy, it also makes Ted seem reasonable in his view of her as a leech. There seems to be an implication that the only reason why Patrick was able to get so many people to give up possessions and live with him in the middle of nowhere was because most of them knew that if the whole thing went South, their families would bail them out. So basically, "hippies are social parasites."

** Also of note: Martha never asks Lucy if Lucy went looking for her. There were hints of a strained relationship between the sisters before Martha disappeared. When Martha comes back, Lucy makes a lot of "parenting"/"motherly" speeches to Martha about her unusual behavior.

** Also noted in Martha and Ted's argument over materialism.

* AwardSnub: No Oscar nomination for Olsen, especially when it was highly predicted?