Martha... Martha (2001)

Sometimes a downtrodden soul needs more than just one shoulder to cry on, which is why French director Sandrine Veysset dedicated Martha... Martha (2001) "to the need for consolation." Veysset's beleaguered heroine begins this grueling, tough-minded narrative as a pretty young mother driven to distraction by the numbing demands of middle-class housewifery. Her young daughter and attentive husband are powerless to slow or alter the afflicted house frau's spiral into anguished isolation. When outside events turn as bleak and turbulent as Martha's inner world, the universe of this three-member family is knocked completely off orbit. Will their planets ever be aligned again?