The Raw, Brutal Power Of Martyrs

Horror takes many forms. There’s creature feature horror. There’s psychological horror. There’s body horror. With a genre of story telling where there are little to no rules, anything can be done. Anything can be said. And anyone can push the limits of what is too much just to the very edge. The French film Martyrs from 2008 depicts in its own way all of these subgenres but in a way that puts it in a genre all its own, and comes just close to going too far. Although some see it as going well past our perceived limits of disturbing content.

Martyrs is a 2008 French film by director/writer Pascal Laugier and is considered one of if not the most disturbing horror film of all time. It’s not widely known, even among some of the most devoted and hard-core fans. For those who do know of and speak of it, it’s gained a notorious and for some an infamous reputation. The film that people challenge themselves to watch and come out of it feeling as if they’ve come out of an accident and vowing never to watch it again. Of course, for a lover of horror like me that always wants to push myself with what I can handle, I wanted to see it. I learned about this film totally by accident. Having just seen Us by director/writer Jordan Peele in theaters, I was scrolling through Youtube videos for all of the subsequent videos of reviews, theories, and interviews with the cast that were available. One video I came upon was an interview with Lupita Nyong’o, where she spoke of her preparation for the leading role (or roles, if you’d rather). She spoke of a list of films Peele had given her to watch to get a grasp of what he was going for with his own film, from the least intense to the most intense. While I don’t personally remember what the other films were, I remember what was deemed the most intense by Peele, a simple yet gripping title that was simply Martyrs. Nyong’o said that next to this title, Peele had made one note. “Watch at your own risk.”

Immediately, my interest peaked. As soon as I finished this first video I sought out the trailer for Martyrs. What I found only wrapped a tighter grip around the throat that was my intrigue. The trailer was vague while still saying everything at the same time. I just didn’t realize it was saying everything, or I just didn’t know exactly what that everything was. However, even with my growing fascination for the film, I avoided it. There were no streaming services at the time that were showing it, and I just simply thought at that time that maybe it would be better for my mental health if I just avoided it. Yet the call of it became more and more persistent as time passed.

Over the next few years I continued to hear about the film, mostly offhand statements from film critics. I watched other films that were a lot to handle such as The Man From Nowhere, and I Saw The Devil. Still, both from South Korea. I was building a callus, building the muscles of what I could withstand to watch without even realizing it. I continued to avoid the film and went on with my life, which at the time was itself leading to a crashing crescendo of the depths my sanity could go. During this time, I often forget that Martyrs even existed. Even with this latter point, the seed had been planted and had taken root deep within my self consciousness and couldn’t be ripped from its dark soil. Then came the day I finally watched it. An experience I will never forget.

Watching the film was a completely unplanned thing. At the time I was in residential treatment for alcoholism and an addiction to pills. I was allowed to have my phone, my laptop, giving me the freedom into the worlds of books and movies any moment where I wasn’t attending a support group. On this particular day I opened my Shudder account which at the time had Martyrs on streaming. I looked at the title for a long time. I had just under two hours before the next support group, plenty of time, so I pushed play.

The basic premise of the film, without giving away any spoilers or giving out any details too disturbing for this review, is the story of a young girl seeking revenge against the people who kidnapped and tortured her as a young girl. It’s a goal made clear to be obsessive and one she has desperately wanted over the fifteen years since her escape. Sounds like something seen before, yes? I thought so too. However, this film is more than just a revenge story. I hesitate to even call it a typical revenge story. Without saying too much, it is simply so much more.

The viewing experience was really one of a kind that will never be experienced again. My eyes remained glued to my laptop screen without pausing to take a break for the bathroom, to take a breather, nor did my eyes ever turn away. That’s the power of this apex filmmaking. On top of this, due to the traumatic experience going to rehab really was for me, I had a I’ll admit, sick determination to just assault my senses with something extreme. As the film progressed, in my head I kept saying “Come on! Is that all you got? Is that all you got?!”. By the time I reached the end credits, all I could think was “Be careful what you wish for.”

The reaction I had to this film was one where I really thought my mind would finally crack wide open. I felt numb, shaken, shocked, and filled with a deep nihilistic despair unlike anything I’d ever felt before. I know now that I was experiencing real emotional shock. The kind one feels after walking out of something deeply traumatic, like watching a brutal crime take place. These feelings mixed with the emotional ties of viewing the violence that’s inflicted upon women in this film, I felt for the characters in a way that made me feel deeply ashamed for watching their suffering, without doing a single thing to stop it. That’s how heavy the weight of watching this film really was. Thankfully, just after finishing the film I had a support group to attend for the women. The entire time the first few women spoke, I felt both in my body and out of my body. I didn’t feel much of anything aside from deep regret for watching the film, and feeling with great certainty that my love of horror had finally taken me too far. There then came the horrific moment where I knew that I was either going to fall apart completely, or I would just permanently lose the ability to feel. This was when one of the counselors running this group called upon me and I explained that I watched this movie and I didn’t know what to do about it. More words were said that I can’t completely remember, when the moment came where the counselor reached across the table and took my hand and said “Chloe, you’re here. You’re safe. It was just a movie. You’re safe.”. Slowly, this helped bring me back. After having dinner, I watched a comedian and recovering addict perform in a comedy show the entire house watched on TV as a group. Emotionally, I came back to myself more and more. By the end of the evening, I was looking up every online review and video analysis I could find, which forced me to look at the film objectively for what it was. A masterpiece. A masterpiece I hoped, believe it or not, I would be able to replicate with my own writing, or at least replicate the emotions conjured upon watching it for the first time.

The skill of precision and finesse with which Laugier used for the making of this film is unmatched. Each shot is executed perfectly. Each stunt was perfectly staged with a type of kamikaze combat choreography that gave it the authenticity that gives the viewer the feeling of really being there during these intense moments. Also the performances of the two leading women who act as the heart of the film are in my opinion, beyond Oscar worthy. You believe these performances. You feel their pain, their trauma, and the pure despair both women endure throughout the film. More than anything, the power of the writing is what takes it for me. It’s a nihilistic commentary about the nature of trauma, the worst sides of humanity, and the cosmic question of where all of this suffering ultimately leads to when we take that final breath.

What greatly inspires me about this film is that it is a clear example of the healing power of writing something through one’s own despair. When speaking about the process of writing the script, Laugier stated that his state of mind was in a dark place, on the brink of taking his own life. He wrote this story with the determination to simply “make a movie about pain.”. For me, watching this film at that moment of my life, and watching it again and again over the last year and a half, which overall has been filled with the most horrific trauma of my own that I’ve experienced in at least ten years and am still processing, it has become a cathartic palette cleanser for me. In those darkest moments where the memories of the recent traumas wrap around me like a snake that’s ready to devour me whole, where I know I need to dig within myself to get the best release through my own fiction, I turn on Martyrs and get taken away all over again. I haven’t experienced the same level of shock as I did after my first viewing, but the power of the film remains. Once it starts, I can’t look away, and I can’t deny the deep existential questions that arise that you don’t want to ask because the weight of them just might drive you insane if you spend too much time ruminating on these questions.

It is with great caution that I recommend this movie. If I’m being quite honest, I hesitate to recommend the film at all, knowing that the vast majority likely can’t handle the film, despite it being one of the best horror movies ever made. If horror films in general are hard for you to handle, avoid this movie. It’s not for the faint of heart, as I’ve indicated above. For those who have watched other brutal films and have come out of it in one piece, this is probably for you. This being said, don’t be surprised if you walk away from this movie feeling like a completely different person that forces you to “Keep Doubting” what you think you know about horror movies, and about life in general.