The official plot for Let Me Make You a Martyr is “[a] cerebral revenge film about two adopted siblings who fall in love and hatch a plan to kill their abusive father.” (IMDB.com) Watching the film, the plot doesn’t seem that simple. Multiple people plot to have another killed while living difficult lives as best they can, some trying to do some good at the same time.
Co-writers/co-directors Corey Asraf and John Swab show a snippet of life in a poverty stricken town, building characters that have very little positivity in their lives, a certain despair floats over the whole thing. The story meanders a bit from character to character as it establishes them and their relationships. As the two leads work towards their goal, we get to see sad, desperate people and a lot of gloom. This story is dark and filled with dark souls looking for some light, some love, and maybe some redemption.
The cast here is strong and led by Sam Quartin as June Glass/June Bug, Nico Nicotera as Drew Glass, and Mark Boone as Larry Glass. Marilyn Manson is top billed but while his presence is very felt, his part is fairly small in terms of screen time. The leads all do well, Quartin and Nicotera shining the most in this bleak piece of cinema. They reflect the hard lives their characters have lived and all the things they have seen in how they carry themselves and communicate with others.
The look of the film here is very grey, like everything has a gloomy layer on it. Cinematographer Jeff Melanson frames all this greyness and the misery in an unflinching manner, never shying away from it all. A few bright, more hopeful scenes show a bit of happiness in colors and moos, beautifully contrasting the rest of the film and giving it more power. Supporting these images, Ginger Shankar adds a score that suits the mood, the images, and the feeling of Let Me Make You a Martyr. The score is not too in your face, but it does add the right amount of feelings to the scenes while contributing to what is seen on the screen.
Let Me Make You a Martyr is a depressed and depressing film. Its story is almost completely devoid of any happiness or joyful moment by design. What little positivity there is gets quickly snuffed out. Misery is the central theme here, with a tragic love story and attempts at redemption anchoring it to the soul of the script. The small, desolate town spirit runs throughout the film where everyone seems to be interconnected somehow. The performances drive the film and are done with talent and nuances.
For those wanting to see this for Marilyn Manson’s presence, be warned, while his performance is strong, he gets very little screen time. Another music performer getting some screen time her is rapper Slain who also does well. Let Me Make You a Martyr is a study in misery, unhappiness, bad luck, and desperation that succeeds in putting its viewers in a similar mood, this reaching its goals with gusto.
Fantasia International Film Festival ran from July 14th until August 3rd, 2016 and will be back in the summer of 2017.