This week's new DVD & Blu-ray

Martha Marcy May Marlene Although she took minor roles in movies starring her famous siblings, the twins Mary-Kate and Ashley, Elizabeth Olsen never really hitched along with them for a free ride to fame. Instead, she studied hard at perfecting her acting craft – a good thing, as we have no shortage of celebrities without portfolio. It has paid off, and with this movie she arrives as a capable, subtle actor who is more than able at carrying a complex and demanding role. Olson plays Martha, a young woman who has fled life in a commune that, at first, seemed to be doing nothing more sinister than setting up a self-sufficient rural idyll in the Catskill Mountains. She's eagerly taken in by her sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson), who has no idea what she's been up to for the past two years. However, her behaviour is full of strange markers that reveal a great deal of indoctrination. In flashbacks we learn the commune was more of a cult, presided over by the enigmatic Frank (the great John Hawkes) and that it was a dangerous cult at that. Writer/director Sean Durkin presents the tale here as more of a study than a story. It has a sure, steady pace throughout and includes one of those slightly enigmatic endings that everyone seems to have a problem with these days. But by not filling in all the blanks in the narrative, he ends up giving the work a life that tidier, more convenient films lack. Blu-ray & DVD, 20th Century Fox The Artist Ironically-titled Oscar magnet which proved that modern audiences could watch a black-and-white, silent film without fear of injury. Blu-ray & DVD, EV Chronicle Entertaining and often ingenious blend of superhero and found footage genres, much better than the reviews would have you believe. Blu-ray & DVD, Fox Nightbirds/The Body Beneath Two ultra-obscurities from British director Andy Milligan. Blu-ray & DVD, BFI Classic Bergman Five Ingmar Bergman films given the Blu-ray treatment – now you can muse on mortality in HD. Blu-ray & DVD, Artificial Eye