Martyrs (2008)
AKA: –
Directed by: Pascal Laugier
Starring: Mylène Jampanoï (Lucie), Morjana Alaoui (Anna), Xavier Dolan (the Son of the Belfond family), Catherine Bégin (Mademoiselle)
Country: France
Language: French (English Subtitles)
Runtime: 01:39:16
Genres: Violence against Women, Torture, Horror, Gore-Gruesome-Splatter, Women In Prison, Revenge
Plot – Spoilers:
A young girl Lucie escapes from torture in the ’70s and is placed under psychiatric care in an orphanage. She refuses to speak about the horrors she experienced or the perpetrators, despite the best efforts of the staff. In time, a young girl Anna befriends her and dons the role of a supportive and caring figure. The two are inseparable and Anna is the only human Lucie appears to wholeheartedly trust.
15 years go by and Lucie walks into a happy family having Sunday breakfast and guns down the lot including a couple of teenagers. Anna rushes to the scene and is unconvinced by Lucie’s claims that the couple lying dead are the ones who tortured her as a child.
Though Lucie believes she killed her tormentors, she remains haunted by a fiendish creature that inflicts brutal wounds on her body. As it turns out, the fiend is Lucie’s personification of the guilt she feels for not having helped another prisoner in the torture chamber she escaped from, as a child.
Anna has been warned for years by her mother (with whom she barely has a connection), to stay away from Lucie and she soon finds a horrific reason why she might have been better off without Lucie.
Martyrs is a great psychological exploration of the horrors of childhood abuse, torture and trauma. The tenderness of Lucie and Anna’s relationship is also explored, particularly while toying with a relevant question – does empathy and kindness matter more than your own safety and well-being.
The scenes of violence towards Anna without the assistance of much gore, are also as brutal as they get. When she is punched, you feel it in your gut.
The cult of rich old folks sadistically willing to sacrifice young women in their quest to understand what lies close at hand for them, also leaves you disgusted, which is a credit to the narrative skills of director Pascal Laugier.
GENTLE REMINDER TO ALL HERE WHO DENY CHRISTIAN IDENTITY.
Hitler was Dual Seedline
Mein Kampf – Vol. 2 Ch. 1
Weltanschauung And Party
For in a world which would be composed of mongrels and negroids all ideals of human beauty and nobility and all hopes of an idealized future for our humanity would be lost forever.
On this planet of ours human culture and civilization are indissolubly bound up with the presence of the Aryan. If he should be exterminated or subjugated, then the dark shroud of a new barbarian era would enfold the earth.
To undermine the existence of human culture by exterminating its founders and custodians would be an execrable crime in the eyes of those who believe that the folk-idea lies at the basis of human existence. Whoever would dare to raise a profane hand against that highest image of God among His creatures would sin against the bountiful Creator of this marvel and would collaborate in the expulsion from Paradise.
Its a very well made movie. The pacing is decent i gotta admit but all in all a really well made movie with good acting and a great story. Not your typical gore movie but definitely worth a watch.
-1 because its french
the idea behind is very very interesting but the movie is very very boring
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship.
[44] You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee.
Behold, I Paul say unto you, that, if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. Yea, I testify again to every man that receiveth circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
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i love this movie so much, people who think it’s boring have the attention span of a toddler. just cus theres not shoot-outs, beheadings and gore every 3 mins doesn’t discredit it as art or as a disturbing movie… media literacy is dead and this comment section proves it
anyone who hates this film can suck my big fat dick and suck the old lady mademoiselle’s dick too…
fucking horrible and disgusting, impossible to watch, screams. agony, torture, the worst movie i have ever seen had to shut it off worse than all Lars von Trier films. 0/10
A must watch for any effed up movie fans. If you like blood, its your lucky day!
Yeah, kinda boring. I really dont get the hype about this one.
for a french movie it was pretty tame. I was expecting a bit more for such a notorious film but it was overall a decent psychological horror watch. the beating scenes between anna and the man were the only thing which was somewhat hard to watch due to the length and repetition. i dont see how this movie is related to mgtow at all? – didnt that movement die in 2019
How Pelosi gets her insider trading tips.
One of the most relentlessly brutal french movies with an interesting concept that ultimately fails to deliver any substantive meaning but is entertaining throughout.
Strong 6/10
Very enjoyable. Thanks
Good movie
Couldn’t even edge to this ToT
one of the best mgtow movies.
not my proudest wank but
Bloody and brutal. Interesting and different. Genius.
masterpiece……this one makes me feel like hopelessness….it¨s very disturbing
boring
Powerful! Wow. The thought and process behind this film is legendary. Definitely a classic. I kept thinking how horrible it must have been to try and help others only to fall into a worse fate. Broke my heart and made it bleed for poor Anna. My stomach was full of anxiety the whole time. What a story.
PS: Si vous aimez ce genre de film Français il y a “Haute tension” qui est sympa. C’était l’époque où Muse chantait “New born”… Un peu dans cette lignée.
Pascal Laugier, c’est l’un des meilleurs. Lorsque ce film est sorti, je suis restée sur le générique de fin, les yeux écarquillés. L’une des rares fois où les gens sortaient et moi devant, assise, digérant…
A voir Ghost Land du même auteur, même si l’ambiance est à mon sens “surfaite” (maison avec poupées qui font peur) ce film est juste… Génial. Même si j’aurais tendance à ce petit cran de plus dans le trash…
Cet auteur est juste un génie. A voir le clip pour Mylène Farmer.
I don’t know, I guess I’m kind of torn about how I feel about this movie. The movie was well-made, extremely graphic and unsettling to watch in certain parts, and I’m glad that Lucie got what revenge she could get on her torturers. But I kind of feel like the movie was a bit pointless, it didn’t achieve a great purpose to me. Ultimately it ends up feeling like most other torture-porn horror movies, and honestly it felt a bit cowardly to not explicitly say what she saw of the afterlife (or the lack thereof, if you think this is why the Mademoiselle killed herself) and to instead force the audience to come to their own conclusions.
I agree with some of the other commenters though, much stronger first half and I think the movie could’ve benefited with more snippets of Lucie’s experience as well.
In my experience, this is the most horrifying film ever made! But what makes it even more cruel is that Marjana Alaoui was rumored to have suffered legitimate (albeit unintentional) injuries in the torture scenes! One thing that has been established as fact is the incessant crying and having to wear the skinned suit on and off the set for hours everyday. Laugier said that the world needs more martyrs and in a very real way, he was offering up his lead actress as exactly that!
Absolutely brilliant. Love that ending so much. “Keep doubting’. Such a ‘fuck you’ to all those people that hurt young ladies.
overrated.
A brutal film, and a film I own on dvd and still struggle to watch. The Admin summary of this film is spot on and this film is so much more than the torture being inflicted. Though it is the torture that is central to the plot. a plot which is so unique. A true modern masterpiece imo and one of the few films I give a perfect score to: 5/5. If you haven’t seen this film I strongly recommend you watch it.
one of my favorite movies!!
This was probably a more intense experience than watching kuso (which I didn’t even think was that bad, just put me off certain foods for a while).
I’ll be honest I enjoyed the first half more than the rest, but all the torture stuff was still incredibly well done and nasty. I did end up crying before she was skinned alive and the woman was holding her hand.
I feel like like if I were in that situation I’d try strangling myself to death with the chain before much could be done to me, then again I might still be in for a world of hurt if that wouldn’t worry >o<
Also man that old lady is weird. Sure, there is a chance that they’ll ‘see God’ or something but 90% of the time you torture somebody near death and constantly drive them mad over the edge, you can’t just be surprised when they see shit that isn’t there. It isn’t very paranormal, actually it would be weirder if the women didn’t turn clinically insane after going through all that. Like what, they’re gonna hallucinate about a cheeseburger and you’ll be like ‘guys she’s mentally unstable and deranged, we have to believe her. God is a cheeseburger’
Alright, I watched this whole thing and here’s my honest opinion. First of all, let me say I knew this movie was gonna be fucked up the second I heard the french speaking. Not racist or nothing but come on, all the movies on this site that are one French always have some shit going on (ma mere, fat girl, the great buffet, etc) ANYWAYS, here’s the review. Is this worth watching? Yes. It definitely kept me entertained and is one of those movies on this site that didn’t make me bored right away. I was confused on the plot at first but its pretty easy to understand afterwards. And honestly, it may be just me but I would’ve loved if this was an action movie including Anna and Lucy but obviously that wasn’t the case. I don’t know, gore just gets old and boring at some point and this movie was pretty fucked up but I mean come on, look at the site name. Anyways, I rate it 7/10. Production is good, plot is good, but not that full rating since it isn’t my favorite movie. Okay fine maybe I’m mad that Lucy died cause woo that actor was fine as hell but anyways, that end scene with the skinning I couldn’t take seriously. Reminded me of a shitty attack on titan roleplay. I was hoping Anna would survive and kick ass but of course that didn’t happen. And I was kind of expecting the old lady to kill… Read more »
can you guys please add a “medical” tag? as a medical fetishist i am suffering
Just kinda curious but why is this movie only 1 hr 35 mins long but the one on Tubi and even IMDb lists it as 1 hr and 39 mins long? Does anyone know what 4 mins got cut from this movie?
This is intense but wait.
I can’t consider this horror.
This is more psychological, considering how much trauma she had enough to injure herself because of it while hurting those around her because she is sick and needs help.
She is not crazy, she is just a sick person that needs a treatment to get better. She needs care and love just like everyone else. And it portrays it with violence and intensity.
Such a good film, I was waiting for less.
One of my favorite movies of all time, Brutality to its highest degree!!! This is the only movie I can remember watching that I had to close my eyes for some seconds. That’s how good it is!
i fucking love this movie oooOOOOAAH OOggGAHHHH
meaningless and boring as shit.none of this would’ve happened if they just left the house but no they had to have a fucking sleepover.the old witch pissed me off on another level
Boring.
this is like outlast but then the movie
THE f’dup movie !!
Fucking great movie, this along with inside and high tension are really fucked up French films.
EUM guys, I have this on DVD and it says 99mins and this version says 95min 11sec. Regional differences or some censoring going on? You are probably sick of me asking this but a lot of shit can happen in a movie in 3mins or so. Cheers bro, and bro-esses.
this movie sucks… not.
piece of shit movie lol
Weird how so many comments, yet not one comment exploring the meaning of the ending! Why did the woman shoot herself? Ideas anyone?
The violence toward Anna made me cry. What an amazing movie.
BOOOOOOOOORING couldn’t even bring myself to get past the second half. What a waste of time, and you people call this movie art? HAH. I normally like these kinds of movies but I found myself bored out of my skull the whole time. What a useless sack of unwiped ass this movie is, my breast milk soured as I watched it
incredibly intense, the film sits on the fine line between unwatchable (due to the horrific violence) and so gripping that you can’t stop watching it! 5 out 5 stars!
what a movie!
It’s a good story, but I still think it’s super duper overrated. A great movie. But not a masterpiece by any means.
its my best horror film. You have 6 actors and actress from Quebec, Canada in this french film. I have so destabilised with this movie. I like it.
An absolutely brutal, unrelenting cinematic experience. It is beautiful and hard to watch at the same time. The story is harrowing and the performances are fantastic, especially by Ms. Alaoui. The ending feels like a punch to the gut (pun not intended). I can’t say enough good things about this film.
An incredible piece of work – and I am not a horror fan, per se. But I do love originality when it is done right, and fuck, was it done right here. The direction, cinematography, acting, the ideas – all top notch. It is one of those films that after watching you immediately want to find someone else who has watched it so you can discuss it! It was on my mind for days afterwards……..
So – do I recommend it? What do you think…?!? :o) :o) :o)
Go watch………now!!!!!!!!! (and then, if you have nothing better to do, go watch the US version – utter shite……..)
yeah…. totally bizarre movie. loved the first half. great looking cast. the young chick in the beginning total body double of Megan from Exorcist, I was waiting for her head to spin. second half not so much. despite good moments, maybe the buzz wore off, I don’t know, didn’t get it, didn’t care. still worth a watch. damn effedup I love you
I was expecting more of the same revenge movie, but no it was beautifully shot and very well acted, great story line.
alert(‘1’)
What’s with the annoying speaker distorting screams constantly. This film has a PBS vibe to it. Overrated.. big time.
What a masterpiece. The portrayal of this unique torture vision is unprecedented. The complete change of mood in the movie was incredible. It gave us a glimpse of human suffering in a supreme artistic way.
Great film. It’s good to see a movie like that has a story.
I had to take three walks with my dogs before I could comment. WTF- did the Nazis really try to find out whats in the after life. Oh’ by the way the old lady that killed herself looked just like my grandma. O.k again WTF- did she tell grandma to go fuck herself after all that, and So the purpose of the beatings was to make her Christ like and the skinning her alive was for more pain beyond childbirth. So what I get from this movie is Jesus was a woman. Again, WTF.
I went to watch the first time and ended up turning it off I wasn’t really paying attention. Tried again last night so glad I did. What a powerful film – highly recommended.
Someone told me to watch this, I said “I’ve already seen it and it was no big deal.” Well, I had only seen the 2015 American version, had no idea about this one. It blew me away. Kept my attention the entire time! I only found this site three days ago and haven’t stopped watching one after another. Thank you to all that make this site possible. I am a fan for life!
Thank you for uploading this, one of the greatest combinations of gore, plot twist and an attempt to convey a message in modern cinema. All of my movies are in European DVD region and I now in the U.S (and don’t have a DVD player at all, ha) so it is great to be able to come to your site and see some of the best alternative cinema there is.
Brilliant
Majorly disappointed with this film.
I’ve seen it appear on many hardcore lists and I felt nothing watching it.
Half-baked themes at best.
:(:(
who was removing her body hair during that time, and why? seems they missed that detail.
how did her facial wounds heal almost instantaneously from before the final stage to after it? is that another thing they missed?
otherwise, very interesting.
Aye why they do her like that
best motherfucking scene i like ‘martyrs’ 2008
second time i watch to ‘dub and sub’
Thank you
you’re demon out
best movie of all time and you cant change my mind bye
Seriously my favorite horror movie and what led me to this site in the first place! I recommend y’all to everyone I know.
Thank you, thank you so very much for existing effedupmovies.com I appreciate you all and this site. A million times thank you, fucking thank you.
literally a work of art. I went into this totally blind and was expecting nothing more than a weird religious snuff film. Holy shit, am I glad I was wrong. This is gonna stick with me for a long ass time. thank you effedupmovies for fucking with my head yet again.
oh, I loved it,but Hollywood version is so poor…
thid fukn gud !
Hello,
The historical context behind this movie is the medical experiments of nazis in concetration camps.
There clues: The “Board” arriving in Mercedes, the way they are dressed, the huge photos of the victims in the basement laboratory resemble portraits of concetration camps victims
Amazing movie … French masterpiece….will hit you like a train! Thanks for sharing
Wow thanks for this, Its hard to find an actual French language version of this gem online with subtitles.
a fucking masterpiece. nothing will top the experience this film brings to the table.