Martyrs - S17 E133
Notas do episódio
Welcome to episode 3 of our “After Death” season on Shoot the Hostage, where Sarah continues her reign of terror by making Dan watch the single film, she engineered this entire eight-film run around: Pascal Laugier’s 2008 psychological horror, Martyrs.
(Content Warning: Contains frank discussions of extreme cinematic violence, abuse, and self-harm).
For cinephiles and sickos scouring the feeds for podcasts covering horror films, 2000s horror, and deeply disturbing films, Martyrs remains the undisputed monolith of French extreme horror cinema. But where does it sit in the fiery debate of French torture porn vs extreme cinema? Rather the wallowing in the empty shock value, this keystone of new French extremity movies wields genuine cinematic craft to dissect cyclical trauma, bodily sacrifice, and the limits of human suffering. We unpack the ferocious lead performances of Mylène Jampanoï (Lucie) and Morjana Alaoui (Anna), debate whether Laugier’s apparent reckless on-set methods make him a bit of a turd, and ask the question: is this film about the predatory upper-tier class system or just a metaphor for Elon Musk running a subterranean think-tank on hummus smoothies to solve cosmic existentialism? Big credit to our mates over at Final Transmission Podcast for their own brilliant take.
What to expect from this episode:
- The predictable backstory of Dimension Films meddling with the films release.
- Sarah confesses why she engineered the entire season around Martyrs.
- A discussion about French torture porn vs extreme cinema, contrasting genuine artistic vision against the gratuitous violence of films like Hostel or Terrifier.
- The context behind Pascal Laugier’s state of mind while writing the script and how that relentless nihilism bleeds onto the screen.
- Praise for the emotionally gutting performances of Mylène Jampanoï and Morjana Alaoui.
- Appreciation for the film’s refusal to play by traditional genre rules.
- Exploring whether this film is about patriarchy, institutional class warfare, existentialism or just a bunch of weirdos addicted to hummus smoothies.
- Dissecting the final act and what lies beyond.
This season has eight episodes, concluding December 7th!
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