The tale of a young woman breaking ties with a cult is the best-reviewed film opening in theaters.
AP Film Critic Christy Lemire gave "Martha Marcy May Marlene" four stars, calling it "one of the most startling, haunting films you'll see all year." The film stars acting newcomer Elizabeth Olsen (younger sister of twins Mary-Kate and Ashley), who offers a "brave, thrilling" breakout performance that Lemire describes as "far and away one of the year's best."
Also opening Friday was "Margin Call," a drama about the American economic collapse starring Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Zachary Quinto and Simon Baker. Lemire gave it three stars out of four, praising its strong performances but noting "perhaps it's all a bit too actorly, a bit too stagey in its structure."
"Paranormal Activity 3" brings home the creepiness yet again with the third installment of the popular horror franchise.
The spy parody "Johnny English Reborn," a sequel to 2003's "Johnny English," sees star Rowan Atkinson engaging in his typical slapstick. Lemire says, "Johnny English isn't reborn so much as reheated," and gave the film one and a half stars.
A new take on "The Three Musketeers" is also hitting theaters. This version is in 3-D and stars Milla Jovovich.
Here's a look at how these movies and others fared on the top review websites as of Friday afternoon. Each score is the percentage of positive reviews for the film:
- "Martha Marcy May Marlene": Metacritic, 74; Movie Review Intelligence, 82.9; Rotten Tomatoes, 85. Average: 80.6.
- "Margin Call": Metacritic, 74; Movie Review Intelligence, 73.1; Rotten Tomatoes, 85. Average: 77.4.
- "Paranormal Actvity 3": Metacritic, 64; Movie Review Intelligence, 62.6; Rotten Tomatoes, 77. Average: 67.9.
- "Johnny English Reborn": Metacritic, 49; Movie Review Intelligence, 51.4; Rotten Tomatoes, 38. Average: 46.1.
- "The Three Musketeers": Metacritic, 34; Movie Review Intelligence, 32.7; Rotten Tomatoes, 23. Average: 29.9.
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