Film: Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) directed by Sean Durkin

Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American psychological thriller written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy. The plot focuses on a young woman suffering from delusions and paranoia after returning to her family from an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains. (From Wikipedia).

Martha Marcy May Marlene was released in Spain last 27 April. Begoña and I went to see it yesterday. My expectations were probably very high given the excellent reviews I have seen in the Internet. But I must admit I’ve missed this film completely. It could have been my fault, though. It is a harsh and disturbing drama with no easy concession to the public but, unfortunately, I found the pace too slow, even boring. Moreover neither the story nor the character are well developed in my view. However I’m in a minority camp. It has become a film of cult with a 7.7/10 rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.2 rating on IMDb. Sean Durkin won the Dramatic Directing Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival with this, his first film as a director.

The New York Times has a much more positive review.

If you have seen it I would like to hear your opinion in the comments below.

My rating 4/10.

Police Procedurals: Five of the Best …. and more

At Crime Fiction Lover we can read: It is not surprising that the police procedural is one of the most enduring forms of crime fiction. As Michael Connelly says, it’s not just about the way they work the case, but the way the case works them. Some of the most successful examples of this sub-genre come from the United States. Ed McBain’s 87th precinct novels featuring Detective Steve Carella, amongst other, remained popular for over 30 years.

The extraordinarily prolific Belgian writer Georges Simenon made a massive contribution to European crime fiction with his Maigret novels. Britain has produced its fair share of policiers too. Reginald Hill’s Dalziel and Pascoe books and David Peace’s Red Riding Quartet have both been successfully adapted for television. (The bold letters are mine).

But there are many more fantastic examples of police procedurals, and below I look at some of my favourite series. If you are interested to find out more click HERE to read the complete article.

From my side you can find some of my favourites on my link above: Crime Fiction Series, Mankell, Nesbø, Indridason, Rankin, Vargas and Padura.

And if you have additional examples, you can always leave your suggestions in a comment below.