Madeline's Madeline

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1:35

Madeline's Madeline

2018

1h 34m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

126 Reviews

44%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

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 goes through all three women's lives.

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Critics Consensus

Madeline's Madeline proves experimental cinema is alive and well -- and serves as a powerful calling card for Helena Howard in her big-screen debut.

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Simran Hans

Observer (UK)

Is it fair to ask someone to traumatise (or retraumatise) themselves for the sake of art? Rather boldly, it seems as though Decker is also asking the question of herself.

Rated: 4/5

May 12, 2019

Full Review

Ian Freer

Empire Magazine

If for no other reason, see it now to be on the ground floor at the unveiling of a new star: Helena Howard.

Rated: 4/5

May 9, 2019

Full Review

Manuela Lazic

Little White Lies

Overwhelming at first, Madeline's Madeline only gains from repeat viewings.

Rated: 4/5

May 9, 2019

Full Review

JD Duran

InSession Film

Madeline's Madeline will not be for everyone. Some will find it pompous. Others will see it as mundane and empty. I find it fearless. Decker's ambition and inventiveness establishes her voice in ways that are stunning.

Rated: A

Aug 7, 2024

Full Review

Dan Schindel

Vague Visages

At the risk of succumbing to the Sundance hype atmosphere, writer/director Josephine Decker may be offering a new form of altered cinematic consciousness with Madeline’s Madeline.

Dec 6, 2023

Full Review

Paul Kanieski

KSQD Community Radio

According to the end credits of Madeline’s Madeline, it was created through the improvisational efforts of a long list of collaborators, and it shows; character interactions feel spontaneous and lifelike. But there’s a rigor to the filmmaking.

Jul 24, 2023

Full Review

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dede w

This movie was so emotional, so tensive, so coming of age, this movie was really a home wrecker in my mind! Keep it up Madeline 🔥🔥

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/08/25

Full Review

Sam N

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.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/24/25

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Andrei D

Experimental dar cam fara miza

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/30/23

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Audience Member

A terrrific, offbeat movie that teases out issues of art vs. reality, emotional reality, mental illness, courage, and classic "coming of age" themes, treated unconventionally, but very expressively through dance, hallucinatory passages, and exceptional acting. The performance by the young Helena Howard reveals a new and exciting talent. The movie is also a good warm-up for Decker's more recent work in "Shirley" - which is also strange, evocative, and excellent.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

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Audience Member

Maybe the worst movie I've ever seen. Pretentious, annoying. Ugh.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

So pretentious with far too much style over substance. This film seemed way more concerned with being cool and painting pretty pictures through a series of Instagram filter style shots rather than telling a story. A shame because the subject is interesting, just wasn't realistic and left me feeling cold and ultimately bored.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

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Josephine Decker

Director

Helena Howard

Madeline

Molly Parker

Evangeline

Miranda July

Regina

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Nurse, KK

Felipe Bonilla

Santos, Cousin Elmer

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Madeline's Madeline: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

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 goes through all three women's lives.

Director: Josephine Decker
Producer: Krista Parris, Elizabeth Rao
Screenwriter: Josephine Decker, Donna di Novelli
Distributor: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Production Co: Bow and Arrow Entertainment, Forager Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 10, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 19, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $183.0K
Runtime: 1h 34m

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