http://embryons.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/martha-marcy-may-marlene-durkin-2011/
Loss of innocence is an oft-explored theme of filmmakers, whether comedically or dramatically. Martha Marcy May Marlene strikes a unique chord of this theme, a carefully balanced exercise somewhere between the delicacy of The Virgin Suicides and the immediacy of Picnic at Hanging Rock. The sophistication of Sean Durkin’s direction however, blessedly extends the film beyond the corporeal depictions of loss, and deftly weaves a complex psychological portrait of not only loss of innocence, but loss of body, mind, and ultimately, agency.
(full thoughts at the link)