Martyrs

"They haven't finished being alive."

2008 1h 39m FR

👍

7.3

SOLID

🍅

66%

FRESH

⭐

IMDB

★7.3TMDB · 3,155🍅66%Rotten Tomatoes★7IMDB · 114,341

HorrorDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A young woman’s quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tortured her as a child leads her and her best friend, also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.

“They haven't finished being alive.”

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Cast

Morjana Alaoui
Anna Assaoui
Mylène Jampanoï
Lucie Jurin
Catherine Bégin
Mademoiselle
Robert Toupin
Father
Patricia Tulasne
Mother
Juliette Gosselin
Marie
Xavier Dolan
Antoine
Jean-Marie Moncelet
Étienne

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Pascal Laugier
Writers: Pascal Laugier
Languages: French, English
Countries: France, Canada

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 17% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 18 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, Canada.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Pascal Laugier, shot by Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alex Cortés. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Sébastien Prangère shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Morjana Alaoui and Mylène Jampanoï and Catherine Bégin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Pascal Laugier directs. Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky behind the camera. Alex Cortés scores. Sébastien Prangère cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, Canada. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 17% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 18 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
4International production across 2 countries: France, Canada.
5Directed by Pascal Laugier, shot by Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Alex Cortés. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Sébastien Prangère shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Morjana Alaoui and Mylène Jampanoï and Catherine Bégin carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "They haven't finished being alive.".
10IMDB entry: tt1029234 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 37 themes, including "child abuse", "suffering", "nihilism", "degradation".

The technical file

Cinematography: Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky
Original score: Alex Cortés
Editing: Sébastien Prangère
Production design: Jean-Andre Carriere
Costume design: Claire Nadon
Makeup / hair: Benoît Lestang
VFX supervisor: Pierre-Simon Lebrun-Chaput
Sound: Jérôme Wiciak
Stunt coordinator: Gaëlle Cohen
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Status: Released
Budget: $6,500,000
Box office: $1,100,000
Return: 17% of budget
Original language: FR
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Martyrs (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes: 66% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7/10 · 114,341 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

7 wins & 9 nominations total

Also by

Pascal Laugier

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CipE2014-02-23
★ 5/10
Rated this 5/10 due to large amounts of repeated and gratuitous violence. Is it worth torturing people to find out if there is life after death? This movie's answer seems to be "Keep doubting".
John Chard2014-03-17
★ 10/10
Martyrs: Greek for Witness. Martyrs is written and directed by Pascal Laugier. It stars Morjana Alaoui and Mylene Jampanoi. The New French Extremity Movement had its bar raised considerably by Pascal Laugier’s brutal but thought provoking horror. It’s a film as uncompromising as it is confrontational, a picture guaranteed to get a response for better or worse. Once viewed it simply will not be forgotten, the images, the twisty narrative thematics and the bloodshed that flows consistently throughout the story, Laugier and his two brilliant lead actresses assault the senses, magnificently so. Story is unfurled as a three tiered structure, each one devastating, but it’s with the final third where the picture goes up through the stratosphere, stopping briefly at the café weird just to further tickle our craniums. Some of the violence here is tough to watch, and it’s no surprise to find it was met with the inevitable charges of misogyny. Yet the culmination of it all puts some perspective on the violence witnessed, leading to a strangely profound and moving climax. The less you know about it going in for the first time the better. A strong stomach is required, as is an open mind, if you have these things then awaiting you is a visceral masterwork, one of the finest horror film’s to have ever come out of France. Yes, it’s that astonishing. 10/10
Repo Jack2020-10-22
★ 8/10
I wrote this once to describe my philosophy on what movies/TV I like: "Ravenous fan of dark, edgy movies & TV. They should glue you to the screen and stay in your dreams." Martyrs is one of a handful that describes that perspective to the T, and it is the kind of horror movie that you should go in completely clueless about the plot to enjoy the many twists that you won't see coming. A big caveat: this is "advanced" horror -- gut-wrenching, gory and very disturbing. Definitely not for everybody.