‘Madeline’s Madeline’ Is a Challenging Movie with One Hell of a Breakthrough Actress

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What to Stream This Weekend

MOVIE: Madeline’s Madeline
DIRECTOR: Josephine Decker
CAST: Helena Howard, Molly Parker, Miranda July
AVAILABLE ON: Prime Video and iTunes

Madeline’s Madeline is a movie about actresses, a statement that would appear to communicate a lot about a movie. Things tends to run pretty meta in a movie where actresses play actresses, where the very act of playing a character is also a commentary on that character and her choices. There are layers upon layers upon layers to this movie, which would make it challenging enough if the film were not additionally about things like the how people’s lived and traumatic experiences are vultures and appropriated for the gain of people with more power. Or how people with mental or emotional problems are often encouraged to tumble headfirst down into their own frightening neuroses in order to produce a work of art. There is a lot at play in Madeline’s Madeline, and if you’re in any way empathetic by nature, this movie is going to stress you the heck out. And very possibly frustrate you to the point of anger.

All that being said, Madeline’s Madeline is a challenge worth taking on, if only so you can experience the breakthrough performance by young Helena Howard, who’s been the recipient of next-big-thing talk ever since this film premiered at Sundance in January.

Howard plays Madline, a teenager struggling with mental health problems and a protective mother (Miranda July), who gets involved in an experimental theatre troupe and ends up becoming a figure of great attention for the troupe members and their director, Regina, who sees in Madeline someone whose unique experiences and emotional rawness make her an especially compelling performer. Regina is played by the great Molly Parker, who you might know from House of Cards or Deadwood, and who excels at roles that play a trembling external weakness against something tougher and more wily inside. She’s using Madeline, for sure, but the degree to which she’s doing that knowingly or through her Brooklyn white-lady privilege is something Parker plays with a lot. Regina grapples with how much she could be exploiting Madeline, but she can also clearly see how people respond to her, and you can see her start to justify letting Madeline surface these terribly painful memories and indulge in these emotionally scarring exercises for the sake of “art.”

Again, it’s heady stuff. But to watch Howard and Parker (and July, who’s never been my cup of tea but who plays relatively subdued as a guilt-ridden mom) play off each other is incredibly thrilling if you’re into actress combat like that.

The final 20 minutes of the film get intense and almost surreal, and if someone wandered in right at that point and thought they were watching Suspiria, you could probably fool them into thinking that’s true. This is where the movie goes full-on art film, and you’re either in or your out. It’s a polarizing end to a polarizing movie, but it’s a rewarding one, if only so you can get in on the Helena Howard experience from the ground floor.

Where to stream Madeline's Madeline