Madeline’s Madeline

Josephine Decker’s impressionistic, technically flamboyant film may be one of the weirdest coming-of-age movies ever made. It follows troubled (and perhaps mentally disturbed) but clearly talented teen Madeline (extraordinary newcomer Helena Howard) as she searches for her own identity, caught between pressures put on her by her recessive but clinging mother Regina (Miranda July) and her demanding, unconventional acting teacher Evangeline (Molly Parker). The story might have been played in decorous afterschool-special style, but it is decidedly not: Madeline is presented as genuinely disturbed and volatile, and Howard brings a feral quality to the role—which is accentuated by acting “lessons” in becoming a cat or a turtle or a pig, and wearing animal costumes or masks. Evangeline, meanwhile, is portrayed as obsessed and self-absorbed, while Regina is a sheepishly accommodating human dishrag. Madeline’s Madeline doubles down on its aversion to formula by serving up oodles of visual razzmatazz. Decker favors a fervid handheld approach, with images that are often oddly framed and beset with a halo effect, and the helter-skelter editing only adds to the deliberately woozy, disorienting effect. But while this all may be intended to reflect the disordered mind of its protagonist, it ultimately seems more about the director’s artistic pretensions than the girl’s inner turmoil. Equally intriguing and frustrating, this is a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)