Martha Marcy May Marlene

A quiet chiller that was a hit at Sundance, this ominous low-budget drama survives its forgettable title and an overpraised central performance to plunge its tenterhooks into you. Elizabeth Olsen plays a free-spirited woman lured by the good vibes of a communal farm. The place turns out to be a hierarchical cult, lorded over by its own Charles Manson, expertly embodied by Winter’s Bone’s John Hawkes. Producers Josh Mond and Antonio Campos and cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes will sit for a postscreening Q&A.