Sean Durkin started writing script of '' Martha Marcy May Marlene '' in 2007 . When researching his script , Durkin read about what he calls " the big ones " of cults : Jonestown , the Manson family , the Unification Church of the United States and David Koresh . He realised he wanted to make something more experiential than political and downplayed the ideology and goals of the cult . While researching , Durkin became fascinated by how someone gets into the farm or commune or group , and made a short film of the name '' Mary Last Seen '' about it starring Brady Corbet , who plays cult recruiter Watts in both the short and feature films . '' Mary Last Seen '' won the award for best short film at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival Directors ' Fortnight . While '' Mary Last Seen '' was about how someone gets into the cult , '' Martha Marcy May Marlene '' was about what happens to someone when they get out of it . Durkin made the short to show the world Martha was in , and also with the intent to send it out with the script for '' Martha Marcy May Marlene '' to potential investors . '' Mary Last Seen '' was selected for the Sundance Film Festival , and Durkin was given a distribution deal with Fox Searchlight
2010 Cannes Film Festival
2010 Cannes Film Festival
Martha Marcy May Marlene