Madeline’s Madeline

If you’re not into experimental styles of filmmaking this will not be the film for you. Director Josephine Decker has a unique style of filmmaking that is not traditional. The story is very very loose and the film doesn’t adhere to strict narrative rules. Madeline (Helena Howard) is a teenager dealing with mental illness. She is involved in a play where the director Evangeline (Molly Parker) develops somewhat of a mild obsession with her talents. Madeline’s mother Regina (Miranda July) doesn’t know how to deal with Madeline and frets over her safety. That’s about all there is to the plot. The film flits along from scene to scene without a unifying narrative or purpose. The cinematography utilizes blurry shots and focuses on fragments of body parts never fully giving you a full picture of what is going on in each scene. The best thing about the film is Helena Howard. She gives a dominating performance. It’s scary good acting. I’m very interested to see what she does in the future. I’m not going to lie, this is a weird one. It’s more of an experience than a narrative film. Most people will see this a pretentious try at making an artsy film. I think there are some cool things to explore within it but mainly I liked it for Howard’s performance.

Film or Movie: Film
You’ll like this film if:
1. You like experimental films
2. You like films with little to no plot
3. You like to watch things for an experience