Madeline's Madeline

2018 1h 34m EN

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 110

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

PhiloSubscription

MUBI Amazon ChannelSubscription

Fandor Amazon ChannelSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Helena Howard
Madeline
Molly Parker
Evangeline
Miranda July
Regina
Okwui Okpokwasili
Nurse, KK
Sunita Mani
Assistant Max
Eva Steinmetz
Claire, Woman in Pig Mask
Felipe Bonilla
Santos, Cousin Elmer
Lolo Haha
Aart

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Josephine Decker
Writers: Josephine Decker, Donna di Novelli, Sharon Mashihi
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 6

ERA

Did you know

Released 8 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Josephine Decker, shot by Ashley Connor. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Caroline Shaw. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Harrison Atkins shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 6

CAST

Did you know

Helena Howard and Molly Parker and Miranda July carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 6

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt6101602 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Josephine Decker directs. Ashley Connor behind the camera. Caroline Shaw scores. Harrison Atkins cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 8 years ago.
2Directed by Josephine Decker, shot by Ashley Connor. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Caroline Shaw. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Harrison Atkins shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Helena Howard and Molly Parker and Miranda July carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt6101602 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Classified under 10 themes, including "pregnancy", "theatre group", "coming of age", "mental illness".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ashley Connor
Original score: Caroline Shaw
Editing: Harrison Atkins
Production design: Charlotte Royer
Costume design: Sarah Maiorino
Makeup / hair: Lauren Bates Jaffe
Sound: Alejandro Quevedo
Runtime: 94 min · 1h 34m
Status: Released
Box office: $185,576
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Madeline's Madeline (2018)

Also by

Josephine Decker

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-07-19
★ 6/10
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.
griggs792025-03-24
★ 5/10
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.