Our critic's selections

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Elizabeth Olsen is a revelation, playing an escapee from a cultlike commune, disoriented and distressed after some dark, disturbing business. A stunning and unsettling film.

R

The Rum Diary In a film adapted from an early, semiautobiographical Hunter S. Thompson novel, Johnny Depp is the boozed-up, Thompsonesque scribe, grappling with shady real estate deals, barking newspaper editors, and a beautiful blond in 1960 San Juan. R

Take Shelter Certain to be talked about as awards season rolls around - and certain to be talked about for its hauntingly ambiguous final shot - this portrait of a Midwestern family man shaken by dreams of the apocalypse boasts an amazing performance from Michael Shannon. And Jessica Chastain, as his understandably anxious wife, is every bit as good. A beautiful, stormy film. R