Director Ruth Platt gives us a slow burn supernatural drama in Martyr’s Lane. The film contains some fantastic performances by young actresses, Sienna Sayer and Kiera Thompson. It holds water in technical aspects and touches all the beats of decent story telling. However, it falls short on emotional engagement and is overall a bit lackluster.
Synopsis:
Martyr’s Lane begins with our introduction to Leah, the protagonist, acted by Kiera Thompson. She’s young girl who finds herself in the trappings of a progressive Catholic family. Her father, played by Steven Cree, a parish priest, Thomas is a warm and engaging figure. Her mother, Sarah, performed by Denise Gough, is a colder and more distant parent.
This is made painfully obvious from their first scenes together. There is a definite disconnect between the two, and the film brings this to the viewer’s attention for further analysis. Leah is also plagued by a taunting older teenage sister, Bex, played by Hannah Rae.
Leah is a lonely child. Both her sister and mother provide little warmth or kindness. She spends her days mostly on her own, drawing on her father’s kindness for relief. But his attention is preoccupied with his needy congregation.
However, Leah is not truly neglected. We learn that her mother offers her perfunctory affection and care. Sadly, Sarah has a tendency to remove sources of joy and playfulness from the home environment. There is something missing within Leah’s mother, and it is at the heart of the film.
One day, while searching for the family’s dog, in the woods, a strange girl appears to Leah, played by Sienna Sayer. This kicks off the main mystery in Martyr’s Lane that Leah must unravel. The ghostly girl begins to leave clues to a buried family secret. She carries her own motives. Leah follows the trail of little objects that the girl leads her to find and attempts to understand her family’s troubles.
Performances:
The scene stealer in Martyr’s Lane is Sienna Sayer, as the otherworldly child. Her physical acting and facial expressions are impressive. She is a joy to watch in her scenes and evokes true intention. Kiera Thompson as Leah carries the film quiet well. Her role is more observational and explorative.
She elicits an undercurrent of yearning for her mother’s love extraordinarily well. In this way, director Platt smashes it out of the park. Her ability to pull these performances out of her child actors is exemplary. The supporting cast is great as well. They are, however, overshadowed by the children.
Cinematography:
Another shining aspect of Martyr’s Lane is the overall look of the film. The camera work is delicately pleasing and ethereal. It’s beautifully shot. Cinematographer Márk Györi brings a deft artistry to the project. His talents help to tell the story more effectively than the writing can.
Writing and Story:
The story and writing are unimaginative. Sarah’s character is poorly written and is at the core of the plot. As a results, Leah’s scenes with her mother are frustrating and cryptic. They bring little to the story. Because of this, Leah simply meets one dead-end after another. This when she is trying to desperately understand her mother.
Instead of creating a deeper mystery, as intended, it creates frustration. The mother-daughter scenes needed more weight and intrigue. New information and new questions needed to be revealed, yet were not. Instead one leaves these scenes with the same unanswered questions.
Once the film’s mystery is solved, the previous deadpan encounters are not redeemed. It misses on all emotional levels. Too much exposition is verbally projected at the audience in the last five minutes. This is another sophomoric fail. There is no sense of discovery. The climax is rushed and feels underwhelming.
Martyr’s Lane was originally a short film remade into to a feature. Perhaps it should have been reworked with more depth, as many of the scenes feel repetitive, and a bit dull. Unfortunately, this waters the movie down.
Pro Catholicism:
Martyr’s Lane portrays Catholicism in a positive and progressive light. In one scene, we see Leah accepting Communion from a female priest. The church provides housing for Thomas and his family for his work the congregation. Their home is a shelter for those seeking a safe place to stay.
In a side story, a young unwed mother stays with them for a few days. This serves to explain why Leah welcomes the ghostly child into her home. As a good Catholic, she welcomes those in need. Leah quotes biblical teaching to her mother in an attempt to gain favor. Her room is decorated with symbols of angels and the Virgin Mary.
These story mechanics are all well and good, but the symbolism doesn’t stick. There is no gravitas. The religious connotations lack definition and seem superfluous. Like many of the other aspects of the plot, the connections to faith are weakly defined.
In Summary:
While attempting to be a film about the complexities of maternal love, this movie sadly falls neutral. It’s not a bad film at all, simply a mediocre one. More work needed to be done on Sarah’s character. The tone was too passive overall. Slow burns require a knock-out punch at the finish line. That is not provided here, just a lot of screaming and wind effects. Watch it for the lovely performances but skip it if you are hankering for a really good ghost flick.
Martyr’s Lane releases exclusively on Shudder on September 9th, 2021 where available.
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