Taglines: They haven’t finished being alive.
Lucie (Jessie Pham), who has been missing for over a year, is found hysterical by the side of the road. She leads police to the derelict slaughterhouse where evidence suggests she was held captive. Although there is no evidence of sexual abuse, Lucie bears the signs of repeated injury and neglect. Traumatized and uncommunicative, Lucie is unable to tell the authorities anything further about her time in captivity or the people who kept her there.
Over time, Lucie makes friends with Anna (Erika Scott), another girl in the youth home where she lives. Anna looks after Lucie and eventually gains her trust. Lucie appears to be haunted by something or someone – a shadowy, rasping female figure (Isabelle Chasse) who apparently mutilates Lucie. After one such episode, Lucie makes Anna promise not to tell anyone about the creature haunting Lucie. Meanwhile, with the help of the doctor (Tony Robinow), the police even questions Anna, so as to know whether Lucie has communicated something to her. Anna says that Lucie cannot usually remeber anything about her captivity period.
At this point, the film moves ahead 15 years, and shifts its attention to the Belfond family. Mom (Patricia Tulasne) is fixing a sewer line in the yard, Dad (Robert Toupin) is making breakfast, and son Antoine (Xavier Dolan) and daughter Marie (Juliette Gosselin) are wrestling over a love note Antoine received. As everyone sits down to breakfast, the doorbell rings – it’s Lucie (Mylène Jampanoï), who shoots the father to death with a shotgun.
The mother follows in short order, and then Lucie hesitates, asking Antoine how old he is and if he knew what his parents have done. When she doesn’t get an answer, she kills Antoine. Marie hides upstairs, but Lucie finds her and kills her as well. Panicked, Lucie calls Anna (Morjana Alaoui) at a public phone to come and help her. Lucie claims she has “done it”. Anna, shocked at hearing what Lucie says asks if she’s sure these are the people who kidnapped her. Lucie confirms and they complete their phone call. Lucie’s creature reappears and tries to attack Lucie some more. Lucie explains that she’s “killed them”, and so the creature can leave her alone now. The creature continues to attack her. Lucie escapes the creature out of the house and runs straight into Anna.
Lucie frightened tells Anna not to go into the house as “she’s” still in there. Anna says she has to and heads inside. She is horrified at the sight of what Lucie has done to the Belfond family. After nearly throwing up she starts working on moving the bodies. Lucie falls asleep in the daughter’s bedroom and wakes to strange noises in the house. She sees Anna burying the bodies outside.
Anna returns inside to collect another body and takes a break in the room they have moved the bodies to. She then discovers the mother is still alive. The mother yells awaking Lucie again. Lucie heads downstairs to check on Anna. Anna attempts to hide the fact the mother is still alive and takes the daughter’s body outside. She then hears Lucie screaming from inside as the creature resumes its assault. After escaping the creature again flashbacks reveal that the it is a woman who was being tortured in the same building as Lucie.
About Remake of Martyrs in 2016
In 2008 original director Pascal Laugier confirmed in an interview that he was in the middle of negotiating the rights for Martyrs to be remade in America.[15] It was to be directed by Daniel Stamm, director of The Last Exorcism, and written by Mark L. Smith, writer of Vacancy as well as from the producers of Twilight. The producer of the film said he would like Twilight actress Kristen Stewart for the film, though her presence in the film was later denied by Stamm. Stamm said “[The original film] is very nihilistic. The American approach [that I’m looking at] would go through all that darkness but then give a glimmer of hope. You don’t have to shoot yourself when it’s over.”
In a 2014 interview, Stamm revealed he had left the project after the budget had been reduced, stating, “I think they’re now back to making the movie for like $1 million, really low budget, which I think you could almost do, it’s just there’s this philosophy in Hollywood that you can never go back budget-wise. As a filmmaker you are judged by that. And then there’s also this concept I was unaware of called plateauing, where if you’re a filmmaker who makes two movies in the same budget bracket, that becomes your thing. You are the guy for the $3 million movie, and then that’s all you do. And so my agents wouldn’t let me do the $1 million movie, because then that’s it for you, you’ll supposedly never get that bigger budget”.
In February 2015 the new production companies Blumhouse Productions and The Safran Company announced that the movie was already filmed and that the Goetz Brothers, Michael and Kevin, had directed. In the leads stars Bailey Noble, Troian Bellisario, Kate Burton and Blake Robbins. It was panned by critics, and currently has a 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 19/100 on Metacritic, indicating “overwhelming dislike”.
Continue Reading and View the Theatrical Trailer
Martyrs (2008)
Directed by: Pascal Laugier
Starring: Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, Robert Toupin, Patricia Tulasne, Juliette Gosselin, Xavier Dolan, Erika Scott, Anie Pascale, Isabelle Chasse
Screenplay by: Pascal Laugier
Production Design by: Jean-Andre Carriere
Cinematography by: Stéphane Martin, Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky, Bruno Philip
Film Editing by: Sébastien Prangère
Set Decoration by: Louisa Schabas
Music by: Alex Cortés, Willie Cortés
Distributed by: The Weinstein Company
Release Date: September 28, 2008
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