Martyrs poster

Martyrs (2008)

Film · 1h 39m · Rated R · In French

Drama, Foreign (non-English), Horror, Thriller

A young woman's quest for revenge becomes a chilling, gritty descent into depravity.

Bleak. A full-attention watch at a measured pace. Emotionally it is devastating.

Not on a US subscription service as of Oct 27, 2026.

Martyrs parents guide

Strong sex and nudity, and extreme gore, which is more than most R titles carry. Beyond that, real scares and a jolt or two.

Scare
Properly scary
Frightening, not just tense.
Jump scares
A couple
One or two sudden jolts.
Gore
Extreme gore
Our top level for gore.
Violence
Brutal violence
Our top level for violence.
Sex and nudity
Strong
Strong means explicit or repeated sex, extended nudity, or sexual assault shown on screen, attempted or completed, even partly off screen. Any one of these is enough.
Language
Moderate
Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is Martyrs scary?
Yes, properly. Martyrs is the real thing without being an endurance test.
How gory is Martyrs?
Extreme gore and brutal violence. If graphic gore is a dealbreaker, skip it.
What is Martyrs rated, and is it OK for kids?
Real scares, strong sex and nudity, and brutal violence. The R is earned, so not for kids.

What is Martyrs about?

A young woman’s quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tortured her as a child leads her and her best friend, also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

No. Brace yourself.

Cast and crew

Directed byPascal Laugier
StarringMorjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin, Robert Toupin, Patricia Tulasne, Juliette Gosselin

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.