Martyrs vs. Martyrs

consp77

on 2/1/2016

The original worked in part because it was cast in shadow, and the remake effuses too much light. The two young leads come off as junior versions of Jennifer Garner and Noomi Rapace. The mixed and ambiguous ethnicity of the two French leads which made the original so unique is not replicated here, nor do I suspect it could have been. It they wanted to anglicize the leads, they could have maybe cast Tracy Spiridakos. But the key was establishing that emotional bond between the two girls, they don't in the remake, so they can't earn the altered ending. The remake doesn't work as a film and it doesn't work philosophically.