Interview: Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene)

[Editor’s note: This interview was orginally published during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.]

One could say that the fate of Martha Marcy May Marlene was destined for the acclaim that it received at Sundance and the acclaim it will receive in Cannes the moment that the visionary team behind Borderline Films (Antonio Campos, Josh Mod and the film’s auteur Sean Durkin) teamed with indie vet producer Ted Hope, when Durkin’s Mary Last Seen was the buzz short film at Sundance and Cannes circa 2010 and when the final phase was of a screenplay that was written in 2007 was workshopped in back to back Sundance labs in 2010. With a brilliant female lead and supporting cast, and a technical crew that are part of the extended family since 2008’s After School (one of my faces that year), Durkin examines the phenomena of losing one’s identity and claiming another one, of time moving forward while the individual appears to be stuck/not capable of moving along at the same pace and of the power of manipulation — he does so with aplomb, making for an engrossing, layered, chilling psychological portrait that will appease art-house fans and dark thriller seekers. Not surprisingly, Durkin won Best Director in Park City, Fox Searchlight picked up the rights during the fest and the quality speaks for itself as it was invited for its international premiere in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes. Here is my sit down with Sean Durkin.