Martyrs (2008)

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Avg Rating: 4.5 / 5. Voted: 497

No one cared thus far. Do you?

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.

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LittleRichard
LittleRichard
March 14, 2024 2:49 pm

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

thisisnotmyfoot
thisisnotmyfoot
February 23, 2024 10:23 am

Very enjoyable. Thanks

Martyrs (2008)
Martyrs (2008)
February 5, 2024 8:28 pm

Good movie

bella
bella
December 31, 2023 8:29 pm

Couldn’t even edge to this ToT

breakpoint
breakpoint
December 16, 2023 10:59 pm

one of the best mgtow movies.

Igor
Igor
October 28, 2023 10:11 pm

not my proudest wank but

FeliCity34
FeliCity34
March 21, 2023 12:46 pm

Bloody and brutal. Interesting and different. Genius.

alex
alex
December 5, 2022 7:15 pm

masterpiece……this one makes me feel like hopelessness….it¨s very disturbing

slutdrop69
slutdrop69
December 5, 2022 3:58 pm

boring

Lola
Lola
June 21, 2022 4:31 am

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.

Lange
Lange
May 31, 2022 10:15 pm

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.

Lange
Lange
May 31, 2022 10:11 pm

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.

HorrorFan10
HorrorFan10
April 2, 2022 6:05 am

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.

MR BRIMSTONE
MR BRIMSTONE
March 22, 2022 11:26 am

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!

Paul
Paul
March 22, 2022 1:34 am

Absolutely brilliant. Love that ending so much. “Keep doubting’. Such a ‘fuck you’ to all those people that hurt young ladies.

overrated
overrated
March 16, 2022 3:25 pm

overrated.

An_Oldboy
An_Oldboy
February 25, 2022 11:43 pm

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.

reznor
reznor
February 1, 2022 4:13 am

one of my favorite movies!!

Rattlemebones
Rattlemebones
January 26, 2022 7:14 pm

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<

Joepapa69
Joepapa69
January 24, 2022 10:34 am

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’

Joepapa69
Joepapa69
January 24, 2022 10:26 am

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 »

nicki brand
nicki brand
January 20, 2022 11:25 pm

can you guys please add a “medical” tag? as a medical fetishist i am suffering

Zardoz
Zardoz
January 16, 2022 11:17 pm

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?

op102 no1
op102 no1
December 15, 2021 3:48 pm

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.

Butch Coolidge
Butch Coolidge
November 8, 2021 5:50 pm

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!

trash
trash
October 31, 2021 1:38 pm

i fucking love this movie oooOOOOAAH OOggGAHHHH

ruby rain
ruby rain
August 25, 2021 6:07 pm

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

queso
queso
August 8, 2021 7:05 pm

Boring.

lies
lies
August 6, 2021 7:07 pm

this is like outlast but then the movie

junglejulia
junglejulia
August 6, 2021 2:35 am

THE f’dup movie !!

Hellbent
Hellbent
July 20, 2021 9:02 pm

Fucking great movie, this along with inside and high tension are really fucked up French films.

Zed Man
Zed Man
July 6, 2021 10:52 am

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.

Farfadet Kennedy
Farfadet Kennedy
May 13, 2021 3:03 am

this movie sucks… not.

scottie turner
scottie turner
April 20, 2021 5:49 pm

piece of shit movie lol

Jobber
Jobber
April 16, 2021 12:53 am

Weird how so many comments, yet not one comment exploring the meaning of the ending! Why did the woman shoot herself? Ideas anyone?

Wolf
Wolf
April 4, 2021 2:38 am

The violence toward Anna made me cry. What an amazing movie.

clownfag
clownfag
March 31, 2021 12:01 pm

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

big drip
big drip
March 30, 2021 2:08 pm

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!

Caitlin
Caitlin
March 28, 2021 9:13 am

what a movie!

risk0608
risk0608
March 17, 2021 6:42 am

It’s a good story, but I still think it’s super duper overrated. A great movie. But not a masterpiece by any means.

Eric
Eric
February 18, 2021 1:55 am

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.

InRetrospect
InRetrospect
February 16, 2021 10:53 am

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.

David
David
February 13, 2021 5:30 pm

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……..)

Lotty Da
Lotty Da
February 11, 2021 6:53 am

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

Stephen Fenemore
Stephen Fenemore
January 13, 2021 9:35 am

I was expecting more of the same revenge movie, but no it was beautifully shot and very well acted, great story line.

d
d
November 23, 2020 11:51 pm

alert(‘1’)

Antinatalpist
Antinatalpist
September 23, 2020 6:29 pm

What’s with the annoying speaker distorting screams constantly. This film has a PBS vibe to it. Overrated.. big time.

Girolski
Girolski
August 17, 2020 6:58 pm

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.

Candy
Candy
August 14, 2020 4:22 am

Great film. It’s good to see a movie like that has a story.

T.Schuster
T.Schuster
July 26, 2020 4:49 am

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.

Tom C
Tom C
July 25, 2020 8:24 pm

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.

Pamela
Pamela
July 23, 2020 11:03 pm

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!

be careful, you could spend all your money in there
be careful, you could spend all your money in there
July 8, 2020 4:26 am

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.

Nuraan
Nuraan
July 5, 2020 12:35 am

Brilliant

The_Silent_One
The_Silent_One
June 20, 2020 9:24 am

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.
:(:(

a
a
June 12, 2020 4:55 am

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.

Sauce
Sauce
May 31, 2020 8:05 am

Aye why they do her like that

basem hakim
basem hakim
May 10, 2020 3:28 pm

best motherfucking scene i like ‘martyrs’ 2008
second time i watch to ‘dub and sub’
Thank you
you’re demon out

stinky
stinky
May 7, 2020 5:04 pm

best movie of all time and you cant change my mind bye

Phoenox
Phoenox
March 24, 2020 4:32 am

Seriously my favorite horror movie and what led me to this site in the first place! I recommend y’all to everyone I know.

Val
Val
January 8, 2020 12:27 pm

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.

katelyn
katelyn
November 11, 2019 11:08 pm

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.

Vishal
Vishal
June 28, 2019 6:58 am

oh, I loved it,but Hollywood version is so poor…

bob sagget
bob sagget
May 22, 2019 6:19 am

thid fukn gud !

Eleutherius
Eleutherius
February 3, 2019 8:01 pm

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

Marcel
Marcel
December 17, 2018 8:49 pm

Amazing movie … French masterpiece….will hit you like a train! Thanks for sharing

Cl Frij
Cl Frij
December 9, 2018 11:57 pm

Wow thanks for this, Its hard to find an actual French language version of this gem online with subtitles.

Marie
Marie
November 20, 2018 3:49 am

a fucking masterpiece. nothing will top the experience this film brings to the table.