Martha Marcy May Marlene is proof that independent filmmaking is alive and well in America. The film shares many qualities with last year’s hit Winter’s Bone: both offer a glimpse of a hidden America; both have astonishing performances by young actresses; and both are masterful pieces of storytelling. Martha Marcy May Marlene will creep up on you until you realise that you have been holding your breath for the final act.

Elizabeth Olsen (the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley) plays Martha, who later takes on the new name of Marcy May when she joins an apparently idyllic commune in upstate New York. But there is no room for dissent in this strongly patriarchal society (presided over by John Hawkes of Winter’s Bone), and Martha’s life takes on darker shades of oppression and exploitation. She makes a daring escape from the clutches of her keepers and ends up at the holiday home of her wealthy older sister. Terrified and paranoid, Martha has trouble settling into ‘normal’ life and seems as trapped by her new freedom as she did by life on the farm.

As the commune’s leader, Hawkes is mesmerising, and Olsen puts in a star-making performance as the confused young woman desperately seeking meaning and connection. But the real star here is the way the film has been crafted. Durkin has subtly used every tool at his disposal to weave a tale which is as tense, gripping and memorable as any thriller you'll see this year.