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Director
Pascal Laugier
Year
2008
Country
Canada, France
Runtime
95 min

Also released as

  • Marttyyrit
  • 殉道者
  • Martires
  • Mučenice
  • 마터스-천국을 보는 눈

Martyrs

Martyrs is a 2008 Canadian and French horror film directed by Pascal Laugier.

Two films stapled together, and it takes its argument about suffering completely seriously.

goreledger editorial rating: 7/10 · Read the review

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The first half is a home-invasion revenge film and is well made. Then it stops, and what follows is something else entirely, with a different protagonist and a thesis.

Whether it earns that thesis is the whole argument about it. Pascal Laugier is not being flippant: the film is about an organisation that believes extreme suffering produces knowledge, and it commits to that idea rather than using it as a pretext. The last twenty minutes are close to unwatchable and are also the reason people defend it.

Not a first horror film. Not a second one either. If you watch it, watch it once and do not watch it alone.

Goreledger editorial rating

7 / 10

Two films joined together: a competent home-invasion revenge film, then a harder one with a thesis. It commits to its idea rather than using it as a pretext, which earns respect, but the last twenty minutes are close to unwatchable. Watch once.

Our opinion, not an average. How we rate

Goreledger editorial profile

goreledger editorial profile for MartyrsEditorial character scores, 1 to 10, describing the film rather than rating it: Dread 8 out of 10, Gore 9 out of 10, Atmosphere 6 out of 10, Rewatch 3 out of 10, Disturb 10 out of 10.Dread8/10Gore9/10Atmosphere6/10Rewatch3/10Disturb10/10

Describes the film, not its quality: high gore means very gory.

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Trailer

The sleeves

The same film, sold as a different film in each territory. Click any of them.

poster
FR · poster
FR · poster
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FR · poster
FR · poster
RU · poster

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