‘Maddie’s Secret’: John Early’s Brilliant Directorial Debut Takes a Bite Out of Life

When the trailer for John Early’s directorial debut, Maddie’s Secret, debuted online a few months back, some people made assumptions of what it was about. Even the title garnered comments on social media about what the titular secret is, assuming that Early’s title character will be going through some sort of gender discovery. For those of us who are fans of Early’s bold, confident, comedy, though, we understand without having to dive deeper into the film’s meaning. Maddie’s Secret is a brilliant modern love letter to melodrama and stories centered on women.

Maddie Ralph doesn’t have time to smell the roses, or, in this case, the jasmine bushes. As a dishwasher for the online cooking channel, Gourmaybe, she keeps her head down while her good friend Deena, Kate Berlant, encourages her to pursue her passion as a vegetarian chef. Maddie’s hunk of a boyfriend, Jake, thinks she’s ravishing, and he records her making dinner one night in a bid to boost her confidence. She doesn’t like how she looks but Josh tells her that she’s a knockout. When that video hits over 600,000 views overnight, Gourmaybe takes notice and elevates her to on-camera talent before Maddie can say mango chutney.

Because of her warm and welcoming demeanor, Maddie becomes an immediate Gourmaybe staple, but there is a demon stalking her that she can’t shake. We see glimpses of Maddie’s unease around food when she’s alone, and she begins to binge and purge before she is caught by Jake and she lies and announces that she’s pregnant. There is clear trauma from her childhood involving her mother, but she pushes it down in order to avoid conflict, and Early’s point of view is so sharp, funny, and carefully melodramatic. When Maddie is up for a food stylist-like job on the hot new television sensation, The Boar, Maddie’s Secret digs deeper as Maddie’s struggles with food get more serious.

For those who are familiar with the time and realm of TV Movie of the Week or the Lifetime oeuvre from the ’80s and ’90s, Early’s script, direction, and performance will awaken a long dormant need for this type of storytelling. When I saw this film at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, I was expecting an operatic melodrama with wigs galore, but I was impressed by how Early grounds the drama without making fun of any of its characters. Maddie’s Secret goes beyond satire by lovingly embracing the concept that gay men love women. This is a film about female adoration full stop. There is a theatricality to the emotionality in some moments, but it’s never grotesque or gauche. Early takes on the subject matter of bulimia and parental abuse with shocking care and pathos. Sure, there is a consciousness in how scenes are structured and dialogue plays out, but that’s because Early, along with Berlant, Vanessa Bayer, and Kristen Johnston, are in full control of the story and their respective performances.

Maddie and Jake’s apartment is bathed in saturated reds, blues, and greens as if Douglas Sirk lived long enough to infuse Lifetime films with his sophisticated palette. The score, dominated by ample flute music seems almost in sync with Maddie’s anxieties and spirit. When Maddie tries to ignore her problems and she attends a queer movement class with Deena, the camera movement and the editing make it one of the most thrilling scenes of the year. It’s an example of how the mechanics of filmmaking strengthen the stakes of the performances and the script.

Early gives us a lot to chew on, and he invites us to sit at the table with Maddie in her world. It gets better and better with each helping. Dig in.

Maddie’s Secret is playing in select theaters now, and it will expand in the coming weeks.