Drama

Madeline's Madeline

Madeline has become an integral part of a prestigious physical theater troupe. When the workshop's ambitious director pushes the teenager to weave her rich interior world and troubled history with her mother into their collective art, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur. The resulting battle between imagination and appropriation rips out of the rehearsal space and through all three women's lives.

Release Date : 2018-08-10

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Bow + Arrow EntertainmentForager FilmParris Pictures

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles : Madelines Madeline

Cast

Character Name : Madeline

Original Name : Helena Howard

Gender : Female

Character Name : Evangeline

Original Name : Molly Parker

Gender : Female

Character Name : Regina

Original Name : Miranda July

Gender : Female

Character Name : Nurse, KK

Original Name : Okwui Okpokwasili

Gender : Female

Character Name : Assistant Max

Original Name : Sunita Mani

Gender : Female

Character Name : Claire, Woman in Pig Mask

Original Name : Eva Steinmetz

Gender : Male

Character Name : Santos, Cousin Elmer

Original Name : Felipe Bonilla

Gender : Male

Character Name : Aart

Original Name : Lolo Haha

Gender : Male

Character Name : Alejandro, Craps

Original Name : Jorge Torres-Torres

Gender : Male

Character Name : Laura

Original Name : Lisa B. Tharps

Gender : Female

Character Name : Lamo

Original Name : Dana Eskelson

Gender : Female

Character Name : Hollie, Dr. French

Original Name : Sophie Traub

Gender : Female

Character Name : Charlotte

Original Name : Charlotte Hornsby

Gender : Female

Character Name : Damon

Original Name : Jaron Elijah Hopkins

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jamal

Original Name : Jamal Batts

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jaime

Original Name : Reynaldo Piniella

Gender : Male

Character Name : Henry

Original Name : Henry Leyva

Gender : Male

Character Name : Patient in Sexy Video

Original Name : Sharon Mashihi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Patient Melissa

Original Name : Alexandra Tatarsky

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dean

Original Name : Eston Clare Jr.

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pink Bear, Troupe Musician

Original Name : Dale Paul Lazar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Onur

Original Name : Ivan Martin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Costume Designer at Photo Shoot

Original Name : Isolde Chae-Lawrence

Gender : Male

Character Name : Photographer's Assistant

Original Name : Sarah Small

Gender : Female

Character Name : Salome

Original Name : Emily Decker

Gender : Male

Character Name : Kaila

Original Name : Myra Lucretia Taylor

Gender : Female

Character Name : George

Original Name : Curtiss Cook

Gender : Male

Character Name : George's Stepdad

Original Name : Mike Hodge

Gender : Male

Character Name : Njiri

Original Name : Suzette Gunn

Gender : Female

Character Name : Carrie

Original Name : Julee Cerda

Gender : Female

Character Name : Mariana

Original Name : Blake Baumgartner

Gender : Female

Character Name : Street Dancer - Child (uncredited)

Original Name : Jazmyn C Dorsey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Child Relative (uncredited)

Original Name : Marie Check

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-07-19

I think part of my problem with this was that however experimental the whole concept, or concept within that concept, was meant to be - I just didn't care one way or the other about the eponymous lass (Helena Howard). It didn't start so well with "you are not a cat, you are inside a cat" - not an image I wished to conjure up on any level! Anyway, she is a wanna-be actress who is quite prepared to put in the graft to succeed, and that's no easy task when surrounded by a combination of attitudes and ambitions that are as likely hostile to her success as not. To be fair to Howard, there is something very natural about her performance - it's just a girl trying to make it whilst juggling the balls of her personal life and the camerawork is sympathetically disjointed to give the whole thing a sense of lively improvisation as her story (sort of) unfolds. It's not that is lacks a traditional structure, it's just that by determining at all costs not to conform it completely failed to offer us any positives as to what it did want to be - and quite who it was for. It's random, bizarre and sometimes quite characterful but ultimately forgets to give us any hooks onto which we could invest. I didn't care nor, I wondered, should I. It's worth a watch; it's quirky and off the wall - but I think maybe just a little too self indulgent.

griggs79

@griggs79

2025-03-24

I watched _Madeline's Madeline_, mainly because I liked Josephine Decker's later film _Shirley_. This one's trying to do a lot—race, mental health, coming of age, mother-daughter tensions, plus a whole meta-theatre layer—whilst bold, it often felt like it was trying too hard to be important. That said, Helena Howard is phenomenal. It's a breakout performance full of rawness and intensity; she holds the whole chaotic thing together. Miranda July felt oddly constrained by the direction, somewhat hemmed in a film that encourages improvisation and emotional looseness, which is her bread and butter but denied to her here. There's no shortage of ideas here, and it's definitely interesting. Still, it left me admiring the ambition rather than enjoying the ride.