Maddie’s Secret

Channelling 1950s melodrama through a camp 1980s movie of the week aesthetic, US comedian John Early’s directorial feature film debut is a sympathetic portrayal of a woman trying to conceal her eating disorder and a riotous satirical commentary on contemporary influencer culture.

By day, bright-eyed, kind-hearted Maddie (Early) is a dishwasher at Gourmaybe, a trendy Los Angeles food content creation company, and at night makes scrumptious vegetarian dishes, captured in videos by her devoted husband Jake (Eric Rahill). When one of the videos goes viral and she is thrust into the spotlight, the pressure heralds the inopportune return of a long-dormant struggle with an eating disorder.

As the heinous reality of influencer culture – and commerce – swarms around her, her most treasured relationships, including that with her sassy lesbian best friend Deena (frequent Early-collaborator Kate Berlant), begin to unravel, and her secret becomes impossible to hide. Can Maddie hold on to her sense of recovery, growth and the courage to be her truest self?

John Early is one of the most distinctive voices in US comedy, working across television, film, stand-up and theatre. Here in the director’s chair, and with an incredible cast of comic performers, he audaciously and sensitively negotiates many layers of various health issues with moments of outrageous comedy, and several joyous nods to film and pop culture throughout, making for one of the year’s most delightful debut films.

– Michelle Carey