Martyrs (France, 2008)

Nine Things About the Film Martyrs

1. One of the best horror movies ever made, this film is considered part of the French New Extremity movement. It's a masterpiece that takes no prisoners, and is on almost every critic's list of most disturbing horror films.

2. This movie is savage in every sense of the word. It's also extremely divisive - people love it or hate it.

3. The movie combines supernatural horror, psychological horror... and the absolute pinnacle of torture porn.

4. The movie starts with a traumatized girl running screaming through the streets. That's the happiest part of the whole movie.

5. Without giving too much away, the main plot is about a girl named Lucie who survived extreme child abuse. She becomes best friends with a girl named Anna, who wants to help Lucie heal. Things don't go the way Anna planned.

6. There are hardly any men in the movie. The few male characters that do appear are not nice. But it is noted several times in the movie that this is not about rape. There is no sexual abuse in the entire film.

7. The movie directly challenges religion and faith at the deepest, most fundamental level. This makes a lot of people uncomfortable, if not downright angry.

8.  The sadism in this movie is something only the French can approach. America doesn't have the guts to make a movie like this (even though they tried).

9. If you are wondering whether you should watch this movie or not, that means you probably shouldn't. It's not a film for casual or beginning horror fans. It's a philosophically devastating, existential atom bomb that calls into question the very purpose of existence.