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Martyrs

Play trailer Poster for Martyrs R 2008 1h 39m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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66% Tomatometer 41 Reviews 69% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
A young woman's quest for revenge leads her down a path of depravity.
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Martyrs

Martyrs

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Critics Consensus

A real polarising movie, this Gallic torture-porn is graphic, brutal, nasty and gruesome and not to everyone's taste.

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Critics Reviews

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Scott Tobias AV Club Oct 19, 2018
Martyrs is something of a horror milestone-a dire one to some, but a movie to be reckoned with all the same. Go to Full Review
Simon Abrams Slant Magazine Oct 19, 2018
Martyrs has an intelligence and a dogged determination to do and to say what its predecessors could or would not. Go to Full Review
Anton Bitel Little White Lies Dec 1, 2010
it turns out to be concerned precisely with the nature and reception of extremity, posing uncomfortable questions about what it is that one really seeks in choosing to 'witness' scenes of horrific human abjection. Go to Full Review
Joel Harley Starburst Oct 28, 2025
5/5
Written in a deep depression (and one can tell!), Martyrs is a work of bleak and unrelenting nihilism. Go to Full Review
Alan Jones Radio Times Oct 15, 2025
4/5
Yet as unpredictably nasty as it gets, there is a stark controversial point to the strangely beautiful excess as well as an astonishingly profound conclusion. Go to Full Review
Akos Peterbencze The Screen Sep 10, 2023
In the dedicated execution of its vision — prepared to go beyond every boundary that there is — Martyrs is an unlikely masterpiece of horror if one that's extremely difficult to praise sincerely. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Jordan P @JordanHPost 16 hrs ago I see a lot of what I believe is misinterpretation of this films motives. If it was just for shock value they'd probably show more, which they didn't. They left out the detailed process of someone being flayed, so I think they we still pretty careful with this one. The director was in a dark place at the time. I too have been in the dark night of the soul. It's poetic in It's own twisted way just like this film. You're way more sensitive to the depravity of this world. A gift and a curse that no one wants. It's a place that most take their own lives due to horrors of your eyes being opened. Many are fortunate to never get to that desolation of soul. The brutality shows the restless evils of the external world, but also the internal. It also has us face the struggling ambiguous questions of is this suffering for nothing, why this happens to good people, or does this lead to divine justice. Tragedy happens to good people. Something we don't understand. You can find profound truth in this See more Sunny L @sunnyfraudulent Aug 31, 2026 torture-porn to its finest. watched it 3 years ago and i think about this movie pretty much every other day- especially 2 specific scenes iykyk See more Edward F @edwardfr Aug 30, 2026 This isn't a standard horror film, and some may not like it, but the message that it sends is really profound, it shows what happens when someone tries to pursue a bigger truth at all costs, the ending is the key to understand the film. 4 starts out of 5 because I would've focused more on the organisation. See more KarthiK P. @madkarthi Aug 15, 2026 ​It is an unforgettable film. but one that is almost impossible to ever watch again. The sheer amount of suffering the characters endure is intensely painful and deeply heartbreaking to sit through. ​The core concept is incredible and the way it is executed takes things to a whole other level. The brutality and psychological weight are pushed so far that it becomes genuinely hard to handle. even while appreciating how brilliantly made it is. ​It stands as a powerful and great piece of cinema that pushes human endurance to its absolute limit. It also makes for a really nice 4K Bluray.  See more Tim R @RT83483413 Aug 3, 2026 There is no reason why this movie needed to be made in this way, except to see how depraved film makers can get. Like the Terrifier movies, this is just violence and gore and titilation to see how far the envelope can be pushed. Answer: Despite a good premise, you pushed it too far for this to ever be considered a good movie See more Cristian O @RT13440301 Aug 2, 2026 Al principio la película es interesante, tocando temas como el estrés postraumatico, el rencor, los mecanismos de afrontamiento psicológicos ante una realidad abrumadora. Pero pronto se torna un aburrido morbo-gore con aspiraciones de profundidad filosófica y científica, y todo eso lo pretende sin dar realmente un ambiente o contexto que lo respalde, una pelicula sumamente perezosa, presuntuosa y sobrevalorada. See more Read all reviews
Martyrs

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Movie Info

Synopsis A young woman's quest for revenge leads her down a path of depravity.
Director
Pascal Laugier
Producer
Richard Grandpierre, Simon Trottier
Screenwriter
Pascal Laugier
Production Co
Eskwad
Rating
R (Disturbing Aberrant Behavior|Child Abuse|Torture|Severe Aberrant Behavior|Some Nudity|Strong Bloody Violence)
Genre
Horror
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Runtime
1h 39m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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