why would it be attractive to anyone to join a cult? if it's attractive to you, then there is something wrong with you. this is the story of martha, who upon joining a cult gets her name changed to marcy may because the cult leader pointed out "you look like a marcy may". the cult has more women than men, their roles are confined to having sex with the men, cleaning up after them, cooking for them. the women could only eat after the men finished their dinners. the extent of their depersonalization is magnified by the name marlene, the name that the women respond to when answering the cult's only telephone.
may be those women are lost souls looking for a sense of belonging in all the wrong places. god forbid a girl with daddy issues would come across a man who acts like he cares - because the cult leader in the film is a master manipulator. broken people needs someone who believes in them, and they will re-pay that belief with undivided and fiercely blind loyalty. martha seemed like a smart girl, she must have had more conscience compared to the other girls as she was the only one who managed to escape from the cult. but she has trouble adjusting to the outside world - the grip of the cult leader and its insular life is rooted in her, that she has to fight its persuasive call to come back.
when we think about it - about how those women could subject themselves to repeated rapes and other forms of degradation without questioning, in fact with pride that they had themselves cleansed by the cult leader, proudly inviting other girls to do the same - we are witnessing an immensely basic human need in action. that people, will do anything to be loved, and that the illusion of it is good enough than having none at all.
