Maddie's Secret
4/5
I could not be more pleased to share that John Early, of whom I am a huge fan — seriously, how can you not be after that iconic Britney Spears impression? — has a winner with his directorial debut, Maddie’s Secret.
A cross between a made-for-TV movie, a takedown of influencer culture, and a harrowing HBO drama, Maddie’s Secret finds John Early in the lead role as Maddie Ralph, more on that later, playing a cis woman, earnestly, might I add, in a way that only a gay man can. Maddie is a dishwasher at Gourmaybe, where she seems to be happy enough working her way to a more desirable position the old-fashioned way: by putting in the time and doing the grunt work.
Her best friend, Deena (Kate Berlant), sees something special in Maddie. She’s not just passionate about food; she is a genius with it. And Maddie, a reluctant hero in Deena’s eyes, is more self-deprecating than confident. She knows she’s good, but there is something holding her back.
When Maddie’s boyfriend, Jake (Eric Rahill), convinces her to film one of her recipes and posts it online, Maddie is shifted overnight from the comfort of her dishwashing duties to being Gourmaybe’s newest and most exciting star. As Maddie’s profile rises, her dark secret begins to show at the seams, and it quickly appears that she is in over her head.
This new role sets Maddie up for a great opportunity to possibly become the food consultant for The Boar, a not-so-subtle analogy for The Bear, though she has stiff competition in Gourmaybe’s other chef, Emily (Claudia O’Doherty), who seems to feel a certain type of way about the spotlight shone on Maddie.
The film is filled with other excellent supporting roles, including Kristen Johnston as Maddie’s largely unseen mother, Beverlee Ralph; Connor O’Malley as the pig of an executive in charge of Gourmaybe; and Vanessa Bayer as Maddie’s roommate during treatment.
And it’s this shift into treatment that elevates the film beyond its simple satire of foodfluencers and Lifetime movies. John Early can’t help but ask what the darkest secret Maddie could be hiding as a food influencer is, and, of course, that secret is an eating disorder.
I’ll applaud the film, in particular, for treating this disease with the seriousness it deserves. In a film that vacillates between tones so wildly — when asked at a Q&A how Early managed the tone of the film, he simply responded that he didn’t, he just let it all happen — I found myself deeply moved by the struggle Maddie and her peers in treatment face. Maddie goes through it, including cardiac arrest and a perforated stomach, ultimately leading her down a path where she finally has to confront the beginnings of her trauma: her mom.
The film does a great job of making these largely caricatured people feel real, and the arc Maddie goes on feels more earned here than I’ve seen in most movies this year. For as much as this film follows a formula, Early knows exactly when to keep things ambiguous and trust the audience to think deeper about the images we see on screen. For a film with an ostensibly narrow scope, Early does not shy away from tackling big ideas and heavy topics, and the film is stronger for it.
And while the film does, at times, feel like a debut, the raw talent on display has me thrilled for his future as a director. Come for the laughs. Stay for the emotion. And keep an eye on John Early’s career. For as much as we may love him for the clips that go viral on TikTok, it’s clear he has grander ambitions and the talent to back them up.