Madeline's Madeline

Director: Josephine Decker
Screenwriters: Josephine Decker

Institute History

  • 2018 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Madeline is dedicated to her theatre workshop. Much to the worry of her protective mother (Miranda July), she has become an integral part of a prestigious, progressive, and experimental theatre troupe in the city, one that emphasizes movement, commitment, and an intense focus on authenticity. When the workshop's ambitious theater director (Molly Parker) pushes teenage Madeline to weave her troubled history and rich interior world into their collective art, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur in surprising and potentially destructive ways, spiraling out of the safe rehearsal space and into her everyday interactions.

Writer/director Josephine Decker has long been an independent filmmaker to admire, utilizing a welcome expressionistic approach that imbues her subjects with a vibrant sense of urgency. Anchored by a virtuoso performance from newcomer Helena Howard, whose powerful screen presence commands attention, Decker's vital exploration of the thin lines between illness and artistry displays a rare sensitivity for capturing the messy struggles of discovering a sense of one's self that defies easy narrative categorization.

— L.Z.

Screening Details

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