Maddie's Secret

Bluesky

Comedian John Early makes his directorial and screenwriting debut with Maddie’s Secret, about a blonde, gullible girl from Los Angeles who still believes in the American dream. And her secret? Well, there might be more than one. She works during the day for Gourmaybe, a trendy food content-creation company. Maddie is at the bottom of the corporate ladder, washing dishes for her idol Emily Brown (Claudia O’Doherty). Coming home late at night from the job she alone seems to enjoy, Maddie finds time to cook scrumptious vegetarian meals for no one but herself, while her husband Jake (Eric Rahill) records, edits, and posts her cooking videos on social media. Literally overnight, she becomes a star within online food subcultures, which earns her a dream promotion at work.

With her double life, barely interesting as it was, now resolved, that leaves room for another secret. Maybe a juicier one at that? Sure, if the juice is, in fact, gastric acid. Surrounded by food all day, her bulimia starts again after years of a healthy lifestyle. Maddie gets entangled in lies to cover up her bloodshot eyes, pale face, and overall dizziness, until a near-death experience puts her in a clinic specialising in eating disorders. Barely halfway through its runtime, the dialogue’s comedic flair fizzles out and becomes overshadowed by some thoughtful takes on the struggles of young women with their bodies (there are no male patients to be seen). This sudden tonal shift makes it difficult to determine whether the director intended to make a dark comedy or something that offers genuine empathy. It seems even Early doesn't know, as he said in a Q&A after the world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival that he hadn’t expected it to take such a serious turn.

There’s still one more secret… or sort of. Cis woman Maddie Ralph is played by Early, who performs the role convincingly, creating an ingénue protagonist who radiates unintentional humour and awkward sexuality. HIs performance wouldn't be a problem, yet the film’s overall confused tone extends to possible convoluted interpretations of this self-casting choice. Is this how Maddie sees herself, with broad shoulders and a rectangular torso? Maybe so, but this still doesn’t justify not casting a woman with this body shape in the leading role.

Or maybe Maddie is the present-day equivalent of John Waters’ camp icon Divine? I don’t think that’s the case, because Maddie keeps a safe distance from the outrageous aesthetic and camp demeanour that made Divine an inspiration for the present generation of queer filmmakers. With so much food involved, the mise-en-scène remains clean and aestheticised, and Maddie's bingeing relapses lack voracity. The dialogue is burdened with online catchphrases and corporate slang as an attempt to caricature the highly homogenised influencer culture. That results in a lack of laughs and means it is difficult to connect with the struggling woman.

Maddie’s Secret is indeed a three-course meal, but it’s being served all at once on one plate, mixing the unmixable until it becomes a bit too much for one’s bile.

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