Maddie's Secret

Brimming with style and spirit up to the final scene, Maddie’s Secret is among the most daring movies I’ve seen this year. That it simultaneously guarantees a giddy good time is a minor miracle.

Packed with visual gags and a cast of gifted comedic actors, Maddie’s Secret straddles the line between comedy and melodrama, creating a wholly unique cinematic experience.

Wickedly sharp and surprisingly moving, John Early’s Maddie’s Secret is a melodramatic comedy like few others.

John Early's unique sensibility bursts onto the big screen with huge laughs in this loving recreation of '80s-'90s Lifetime movies that's just as heartfelt as it is hilarious.

Maddie’s Secret possesses a tenacious commitment to clichés and stylistic hyperbole, and while it is certainly a parody, it is undeniably delivered with reverence: an ode to the idolatry bestowed upon characters like Rory Gilmore.

As wild as things can get (tamer than you might expect), Early keeps the film emotionally grounded. Can Maddie be cured? Maybe not, but her secret’s safe with him.

Instead of [Early's] seeming intention to create something that’s both funny and yet very demure, very mindful, he’s churned out a barely-congealed dish that’s the thinnest of gruel.