MARTYRS | Understanding A Disturbing Masterpiece 

So, what do you think of "Martyrs" and what are some other works of extreme cinema you don't think get enough credit? Sound off in the comments! After an uphill fight for over a week, this video has finally been allowed on RU-vid (albeit censored more than I would have liked). If you could share this on reddit/social media/with a fried and do all the like/comment business - that's absolutely the best way to help the channel. If you're in a position to do so and would like to see the uncut version of this video - head on over to www.patreon.com/inframeout

The DVD copy of the 2008 version began with a bit from the director telling me I had made the wrong choice. Strangely the idea that even the films creator was unsure if they had gone to far made it easier to watch. Still wish I could show it to more people.

The French madam says that their martyrs start hallucinating as the tortures progress. We know Anna hallucinated voices and sees something based on her looking toward the corner of her cell out of her swollen eyes. In order to cope with loneliness and hopelessness Anna’s mind “lets go”. She slowly gives herself to her hallucinations until she’s completely “there”. Pain is in the mind and when the mind can’t escape pain, it’ll escape the body. When she fully “releases”, what Anna sees is still hallucination. Now that her skins off and she’s getting slow roasted by a heating lamp, her mind floats away. It’s clear that the cult people want to escape the suffering of life. They want these women to “transcend” their bodies and they want to learn from their “transcendence”, but if the women they torture start seeing things that AREN’T THERE, there’s no knowing what an AFTERLIFE can look like. These cult peeps won’t ever know what “lies beyond” because they’re trying to get accounts from people who’s mind is playing tricks on them to cope with their physical and emotional pain. What the movie definitely doesn’t want to say is that all this torture was worth it at the end because Anna broke the veil and saw the other side. It’s definitely talking about the pointlessness of suffering. But the lesson I got from it is that mental delusions are a necessary aspect to life. Our minds NEED to hallucinate, imagine things, and float away to cope with life. Religion, the ultimate cope, is necessary not because it intrinsically gives meaning to life, but it inserts meaning into our personal existence. I mean, there are levels of suffering in life that make this movie look like a cake walk. There are people RIGHT NOW living through trauma that we can’t even imagine living 5 seconds through. Some of these people end their suffering through the sweet release of death, while others suffer on. Maybe the movies trying to meditate on why it is that people “hold on” to life when it gets REALLY bad. One last observation, it may be bullshit that she saw the “afterlife”, but Anna really did escape her torture. In a weird twist, Anna really did transcend and you could REALLY see it on her face. She was at peace with her situation. She accepted everything that came to her. It gives me some comfort knowing that at when life gets REALLY ugly and painful, there escape, one way or another.

The more I learn about the cultures of the world, the more spiteful I feel towards a majority of American film productions. Often eschewing critical inquiry and appropriate flavors of tact, in favor of justifying abusive tendencies whilst believing themselves to be unequivocally correct. Thank you for your thoughts on Martyrs and the deserved thrashing of the remake!

I know we already have too many remakes, but they almost gave the Hellraiser remake to Pascal Laugier and I mourn not getting to see that every day. Great video!

I love that the ending gives us no resolution. It's up to the viewer. Anna could have said "There is a heaven. And it's beautiful and wonderful. But YOU'LL never see it." She could have said there was nothing. We'll never know because we're not meant to know. That's why the old woman does what she does at the end. One thing I don't get is, they're so desperate to know if there's a heaven. But if there is, how can they expect to be going there? They have tortured and killed who knows how many innocent people. There's no way they'll get to heaven. They'll be going somewhere further south.

i think the overwhelming despair of it all always rubbed me the wrong way, but i can at least appreciate why this movie gets the acclaim it does. the most "extreme" movie i actually really love is always going to be Tokyo Gore Police, mostly because it's just reveling in its silliness the whole time, but i also love the undercurrent of satire beneath all the d*cks turning into guns and such

Watched it once. It's intense but has a point. What that point is, I'm not entirely sure, but I do think of the ending often.

I LOVE Martyrs. It is definitely one of my all time favorite movies. My main interpretation is kind of an anti-capitalist/showing the extremes of exploitative systems thing. Like we have people who have observed a phenomena of suffering leading to a state of martyrdom that leads to spiritual understanding, and they find a way to systematize that suffering to produce the results. People like Anna are at the bottom of the chain, forced to do the work of suffering and pain, while other people above her and the other would-be martyrs inflict it in a very systematic way to the point where they have become chillingly indifferent to what they are doing. Then, in the end, the knowledge is procured through Anna's suffering and the person at the top takes the knowledge to her grave. I appreciate hearing your thoughts and seeing critique of "most disturbing ever" lists, because it does get frustrating to see all discussion of a work of art get thrown out so that people can freak out and tell each other about how extreme it was.

Brutal , tragic. beautifully shot , amazingly acted and probably my favourite horror film of the 21st century Once seen never forgotten

The degree to which the "New French Extremity" has been used as a blanket criticism for such a wide swath of films has always bothered me, but you put such a sharp point on why it's such a BS categorization that it's made me mad about it all over again

Martyrs is your favourite movie that you never recommend to anyone.

“Even the pillows!” had me howling. I will never watch this film because I’m a baby, but I respect that extreme cinema has its place if done thoughtfully

Amazing. Well done for the small tribute. Glad you also found the strength to do a comparison with the remake. I would love if you did something similar for A L'Interieur (Inside), which is right up there with Martyrs for me, and that too has a completely unnecessary remake. In fact, I have completely forgotten both remakes. Inside's impact, I dare say, hit me harder on the spot, maybe because it was more focused and unrelentlessly gloomy throughout - I remember looking at a black screen after the credits rolled and stayed in silence for quite a long time, while with Martyrs it took more time to dissect it on a deeper level. The '00s was an amazing decade for such impactful horror, combining graphic extremity with heavy drama, while I feel like everything's toned down the following decade.

This is an exceptional video - I’ve always felt weirded out about the apparent ease with which people dismiss movies like this as pointless violence, instead of putting in a bit of work to actually appreciate what they’ve seen. You’ve voiced that is a really eloquent way and I loved the video!!

I refuse to watch the remake out of sheer principle. Same with the Oldboy one. Here’s an idea - remake an average film and make it better. You only have further to fall remaking classics. I wish they understood this.

Most movies that actively bill themselves as being disturbing and f'ed up leave me thinking "... that's it?" Martyrs is one of a verrry small number of films - honestly now that i think of it, maybe THE only film - to leave me truly disturbed and sickened

Your feminist interpretation was very interesting. I’m not sure that I’ll ever watch Martyrs unless it’s at a low volume. I have some audiovisual sensitivity that makes certain films painful to watch for me. There are some where I even put in earplugs if I’m seeing them in the cinema just to block out the jump scares. But I might watch the original Martyrs on a very low volume. It strikes me as a fascinating work of art and I love seeing critics like yourself dissect it. The main thing that interests me on a story level is that ending. What did the Mademoiselle hear? I like thinking about that. Maybe it was everything, maybe it was nothing. This might be a silly interpretation, but I almost think that the girl just said some gibberish to her, and the woman says “Keep doubting” because she’s finally lost hope of there ever being an answer before you die.

Probably my favorite video i have seen about martyrs. Also whats the music in the background?

I watched this movie because I had always heard of how brutal it was and felt like testing myself I guess, and ended up being kinda shocked by how much I liked it. Don't get me wrong, it's not a fun watch, but it really stuck with me and I often find myself thinking about it. I think it's mainly because I really connected with the characters. I found Lucie challenging because what she did was indefensible, but in a way completely understandable, and the way in which I both felt bad for and was scared of her simultaneously just felt very, for lack of a better word, real. And Anna's futile attempts at helping everyone and being a good person in a completely messed up situation really made me like and admire her. Their relationship was also just really interesting. It really felt like there was a heart to the film. Oh and I guess it helps that the ending is amazing.

A perfect work of horror. Relentless, intelligent, unflinching, terrifying and leaves you asking questions. One of my favourites and I definitely would put "Funny Games" in the same universe.

Remake? What remake? I don’t remember such a travesty. I just remember a brilliant French horror film that made me think and haunted me. Martyrs is one of the greatest horror movies I’ve ever seen… and I never wanna see it again. 😊

I usually do not like Torture Hyper Violent movies were it feels gratuitous and for the sake of cheap shock factor. And Martyrs could've been that, but the ending makes the movie, and validates the increasingly hard to watch experience. One of the best conclusions I've seen in fiction. Martyrs is the kind of movie that I think it's incredibly well made and I like a lot, but I'd never recommend though, because of its contents, wouldn't feel good about making others see that. Thanks for making an in-depth analysis of this movie beyond the shocking violence, this movie's deeper ideas deserved it!

Really awful that YT refuses to let your stuff be shown. Great vid!

Hey, i recognize those shots from The Audition (near the 00:15 mark). I just watched it 2 days ago. Now that was a pretty fun one lol. Also watched "Possession" last night. Definitely dig elements of it (especially the performance by Adjani and the cinematography), but overall I was not the biggest fan. Def down to rewatch it, tho. Cuz the movie is crazy lol

As a person who watch the most extreme films that has ever made. The ones that are regarded great or have enough analysis than some some executive sought to make bucks out of, are the equivalent to the religious haters who hate rock-hell-roll, that don't realize these bands are satirizing or making fun of the statements towards their preachers. (Also your right that Jason Blums attempt at americanizing Martyrs, is like turning Black Christmas into a supernatural feminist piece.... Oh wait... they did... and you cover it before.)

Me and my Friends whre way to young expierencing this movie... i just turned 17 It was my birthday party and we watched Horrormovies recomended by our local "blockbuster" ... and we sat there in silence afterwards for like 20 minutes after credit rolled.. i will never forget that night, movie and silence as we all tried to compehend what we just saw

Excellent Analysis! This is my all time favorite horror movie and probably one of my top 10 all time favorite movies of any genre. It stayed with me for a long time the first time I saw it. I haven't seen the American remake nor do I want to. Every horror movie I watch I compare to Martyr's. None have topped it, some are very good, but nothing too close yet. However, I plan to watch "When Evil Lurks" tonight. I have high hopes for it.

This is my fav movie of all time. Im getting a shirt with the cover on it and will wear it to the gym.

Finally got a video of Martyrs you promised after your A Serbian Film video!

the acting is under rated. especially the teen aged boy. he is the epitome of confusion and fear. couldn't get through all of the torture in the second half.

Firstly, Martyrs lives rent free in my head, secondly, I'm glad that I never watched the 2015 remake.

I think at some point we need to look at occurrences like this and think seriously about what the creators of the remake have gleaned from the original and thus likely much of the audience, then seriously question whether the intent justifies the reality of it's existence and the absolute horrific shit it perpetuates and appears to endorse. It's a hard question to ask, one that plagues irony and satire too but more and more I am seriously considering if we really need films to be telling stories in these ways or, if - at least in that vast majority of the world - we're just catering to the sadistic whims of the worst parts of humanity in pursuit of our 'artistic vision'.

Damn insightful. I’m not familiar with this film, but I’ll have to take a deep breath and watch it.

This movie was... soooo not for me lol. It isn't even that the violence bothered me or whatever. I've seen much more brutal films and (unfortunately) real life brutality. It's that this film is so... amateur in the way that it films and depicts the violent stuff that it ultimately loses any and all impact. Something like "Come and See" stuck with me in a meaningful way. And I find it to be a much more brutal movie. The difference is that CaS handles moments of brutality with more expertise. Much like with "I Saw the Devil" (another film I didn't care too much for. "Oldboy", for example, is a MUCH better, memorable film on vengeance. And it has better action, too), I became numb to the violence (in a bad way). It actively took me out of the movie. Especially that flayed display near the end. That was just kinda funny to me on account of the lighting making the effects sooooo obvious lol. I thought Martyrs had some interesting ideas in the beginning but by the end... it all felt squandered and the movie felt confused about what it wanted to say. And the ending just annoyed me cuz it really felt like it was being vague on purpose in order to force some sort of profound meaning that the text itself couldn't support. There is def things in this movie that is well-directed. But as a whole... ehhh. Felt like it was being violent for violence's sake. Reading people talk about their experiences with this movie in a comment section for a review of a movie made me feel as if we had seen different movies lol. I'm glad i knocked it off of my watchlist, tho. And the two lead performances were quite good. Film is OBVIOUSLY subjective. But this was a reminder that horror (and comedy) are perhaps the most subjective genres. This movie that resonated with and disturbed some... just annoyed me lol.

What Anna says to that Evil women its obvious " You were right,there is a Heaven for People like me, but also People like you dont belong in that Heaven but in the depths of Hell where you will be burn for eternity". Might sound far fetched but under the circunstances,its what sounds good to me.

Horror at its finest. I saw this when it first came out, and i was blown away (pun intended) all those years ago, and continue to be so everytime i show it to those who have never seen it. Bloody, psychological, political, religious, and loving...few other horror films have touched upon all of the most beautiful aspects of human existence with such a deft and unforgiving, dark perspective covered in bloodshed.

For all the excruciating flaying and metal headpieces the most difficult and sickening thing to watch is the huge hulking brute repeatedly abuse a gangly pathetic figure in chains. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt as uncomfortable during or after a film, bring a new angle to the cliché of “it makes you think”.

I hate this movie, and I'm afraid your video didn't change my mind. I found the torture to be completely gratuitous. I never turn movies off, because sometimes an ending can redeem it. But in this case, I found the ending to just vaguely gesture toward some kind of deep meaning, and it absolutely did not justify the savagery, IMO.

As a French film, the racial coding is important - all the bad guys are white, the two protagonists (could be) understood as Vietnamese and Algerian, victims of French colonialism and torture (there is a famous book about torture in Algeria called La Question by Henri Alleg)

Anna does a "yaas queen" 😂 *snaps fingers* yaaaasss

Good thing I saw the original rather than the remake

I only just now noticed that Mademoiselle had her gun on her just in case she had to blow her brains out in the futility of it all. She had already suspected, but kept going anyway. Good times were had. Thanks for another great review.

I thought that Martyrs does represent war, and the atrocities, justified as experiments, that have often come with it. The uselessness of the experiment, and of the vengeance the traumatized woman exerts. The family she believed was behind all her suffering, were just part of a group of people, who believe they’ve found the true truth, behind what lies beyond death. Your interpretation is pretty spot on, imo. I disagree, about the captives being an allegory for women being brutalized for entertainment. Instead of Britney Spears, one might show mothers who force 2-10 year olds into beauty pageants. The group, who come to witness this event of truth, are written as if they’re doctors, learning about a procedure to get a desired result. It’s an excellent movie, that has far better direction than story, imo, and many don’t see any underlying themes, except for the fact that humans justify brutalizing other humans for many ridiculous reasons. The torture and degradation, that these women suffer, wouldn’t be worth it if a god came down and took her itself, then explained how the perpetrators would be suffering for eternity after what they’ve done. Haute Tension, on the other hand, which really opened the U.S. market to what was being called New French Extremity, lacks the excellent direction. It’s actually scenes taken directly from a US tv mini-series, based on the book Intensity, by Dean Koontz. Scenes are nearly shot for shot, and the reshoots to make the killer some manifestation of her psyche, was the filmmaker trying to get away with plagiarism. It makes the movie even dumber, with no reason for why she’s hallucinating a serial killer, while murdering people. I’ve seen breakdowns, that get just as serious in analyzing the movie, even calling it a masterpiece, without ever knowing its source material. The TV movie, actually does a lot with very little, and with having to censor itself. The killer isn’t a hallucination, and the woman is more compelling. It’s not a great two part mini-series, but it’s better than a lot of the Stephen King ones, from the time period. One used to be able to find Intensity on Daily Motion, cut into 12 minute segments, but I’m not sure if it’s still there. It’s worth a watch, for the performances of a young Molly Parker and John C McGinley alone. Haute Tension is like a fan rewrite, with only a third of the story, and almost no character development. I swear, if it didn’t have the Muse song, many scenes would be left exposed for the lazy direction, of lazy writing, that it is.

This was a wonderful analysis! I do NOT like torture porn - even elevated torture porn. This movie was NOT torture porn, it was an unflinching view of reality. A refusal to sanitize what REALLY HAPPENS every day to many woman around the world for one bullshit reason or another. I loved this movie so much - the story, the acting, the shots. But the biggest reason is because it doesn't take the coward's way out of difficult situations. When you kill someone - there will be blood. When you abduct, torture and rape someone - there is the destroyed person/psyche and the damage that was done. Atrocity done for "reasons" is still atrocity. Don't look away. Look at it. Square in face. Then and only then can you reject it. Loved this movie. Loved your review.

0:07 I missed this little ditty

So this is what LazerPig sounds like sober

2:04 what movie is this ?

If a good friend hadn't told to me 'stick with it' I might have switched off before that incredible ending. Glad I put aside my discomfort because it really is worth a watch.

Slipping a reference to the Pedogeddon episode of Brass Eye into an excoriating takedown of the stinking garbage fire that is the American remake of Martyrs? *slow, steadily intensifying applause* Bravo, sir

Martyrs is my favourite horror film ever, but it's definitely something i can only watch once.

The first film I've bought on dvd for many, many years. I love it.

Martyrs is in a league all its own.

I easily curled this video, with one arm. Heavy? It was just a good burn. 💪🏼

I had no clue New French Extremity was an insult.

The movie creators just get a kick out of scenes of extreme violence and torture. It's not as deep as people make it out to be. It's just torture porn and the fact there's an actual market for it makes me sick.

And then I realized Xavier Dolan was in this

I saw this as a young teen

Watched it, and loved it. Sure it's extreme, but it has a point. Lent it to a friend, he watched it, and hated it. And hated me for recommending it to him.

As a csa survivor, this movie always spoke to me.

The name of the cult is the priory of sion a real secret society I'm afraid 😮

You're a hero

Best movie I never want to see again

I read and watch so much true crime related stuff that I simply don't want to watch movies like this one. It hits too close to things that could indeed happen for real, for me. The ideas about the afterlife and such sounds interesting, but the movie doesn't really do anything with it, and the remake is even worse. A lot worse. At least the original movie had something to say - but I'm not sure what the American movie is supposed to say. "Yay for violence as long as it is the righteous one who is dealing it out"?

The only thing morally objectionable is the lack of views on your video. I've watch everything now and loved all of it. Here til you decide to stop and hopefully that is never.

this movie is nihilism incarnate

Meh. Was a bit underwhelmed by the 3rd act. Was promising but by the 15th min of that beating in the basement it was all gettin pretty tedious (one might even say "gratuitous"). The whole last min conspiracy expos was so goofy & over the top it just left me empty.

3:56 fucking what.......

on point

Not for me. I mean, I prefer a world where a film like this can be made as opposed to cookie cutter Marvel stuff but I just don't wanna watch it. I mean, I gave Irreversible a chance. I knew what I was going into. I've had people explain to me what merit they found in it. I can appreciate it's technical accomplishments. But I really hated it. Just unpleasant. So after that, I'm weary of "extreme" cinema, even if that is a broadstroke term. Can't articulate it better than that I'm afraid. It's weird, I've sat through some harrowing Shane Meadows stuff and, while traumatised, wouldn't think any less of him or his work. This is a long winded way of saying . . . I got nothing

martyrs 2015 is still better remake than the oldboy 2013, which is not really a high bar.

Great movie but I will never watch it again

The problem with martyrs is the second act.

The American remake is blasphemy itself, if that even makes sense. Because no. Oh god no. Fuck no.

fuck yes.

3:53 I hear what you're saying about the "hurting women", but they do this because we actually care when women are hurt. That's why the final girl trope exists, because we fear for women. If horror switched to being about a final boy or boys/men being tortured to death, the audience wouldn't care nearly as much. Unless we're talking about an actual boy child, no one cares about a man in danger, at least not anywhere near the level we care about women in danger. I noticed this the most with a movie like Gone Girl and how a lot of people were either rooting for Amy or didn't sympathize with Nick, while if the roles were reversed we absolutely would not be rooting for Nick and absolutely would sympathize for Amy.

This remake might be worse than the Nightmare remake

I'm certain you are just playing a joke on all of us about the remake, it can't be that misguided.

🌟 'promo sm'

Another harrowingly shitty attempt at an American remake of a 'foreign' great is The Vanishing. Original is disturbingly nihilistic...the point? He said he'd show the guy what his girlfriend went through, so he did and absolutely nothing happens to the bad guy. American version? Another Rambo-swoops-in-and-all-are-saved finale. Yawn.

You are giving this movie, and others like it, waaaaaaay too much credit.