“Madelines” challenges the viewer to arrive at some coherent conclusion. This could be the result of poor writing or very clever filmmaking. In “Madelines” be prepared for innovative and creative filmmaking. What is enjoyable is the possibility of multiple interpretations. I could quell my curiosity by speaking with director and co-writer Jason R. Miller but that would give me an unfair advantage over my dear readers. I assume of course Miller had linear and logical progression in mind!
Ok we start on a serious vein with young scientists Owen (Parry Shen) and Madeline (Brea Grant) working on a time machine project. Madeline, liking her wine a bit too much, breaks her own rules of multiple testing before a human trial can be made by transporting herself in the time machine but makes a coding error that results in a Madeline from another dimension being transported to Owen’s and Madeline’s backyard that will continue for another 9 years theoretically throwing the whole universe out of whack. So each Madeline must be killed. This is where a vital clue is dropped that this is not your ordinary sci-fi film. The scientists become killing machines as each time a Madeline appears in the backyard they must kill her. But wait their backyard is in a suburban neighborhood in plain view to neighbours so how serious could the film be?
The funder of this experiment Ray is hardly a professional venture capitalist so it is hard to take him seriously. At some point one simply must abandon the idea that this is a serious film.
The solution proposed by Madeline is to go back in time and correct the coding error so in the future there will be no Madelines appearing daily. As things go awry and the “replacement Madeline” takes precedence over the “real Madeline” who perishes in a struggle with a “new Madeline”. There are signs that the “replacement Madeline” is evil. The result is that Madelines start appearing daily. In one humorous scene numerous Madelines are sitting in the living room drinking glasses of wine. It starts getting a bit ludicrous until it looks like a quasi-zombie film! Invasion of the Madelines! But instead of zombies with intestines hanging out of their mouths there are multiple Madelines with glasses of wine in their hands.
My conclusion is that “Madeline” is a satire of a B sci-fi movie. If that is wrong Plan B which is it a light hearted and highly camouflaged interpretation of the spread of COVID. I am sure both interpretations are incorrect but I had a pile of fun figuring out what the heck is going on here.
So don’t be prepared for a serious sci-fi movie. The ideas are pure sci-fi but the delivery of them is far from serious. And if it is a satire there are a few chuckles but not really many laughs which makes it all the more difficult to pin this film down. It is co-written and directed by Jason R. Miller and co-written by Brea Grant. The film will be released in select theatres and on Demand starting April 1st.
You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/682005841/57121e93ef
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