John Early Brings 'Maddie's Secret' to U.S. on June 19, Skewering Diet Culture
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 17
John Early Brings 'Maddie's Secret' to U.S. on June 19, Skewering Diet Culture
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 17
Summary
June 19 marks the U.S. release of John Early’s directorial debut, “Maddie’s Secret,” a melodrama-comedy about an aspiring food influencer whose eating disorder resurfaces as online fame grows.
Early said the film uses influencer culture and 1990s diet obsessions to examine body-image anxiety, arguing today’s body-positivity rhetoric still coexists uneasily with pressures embodied by trends like Ozempic.
Kate Berlant co-stars as Maddie’s best friend Deena, while Eric Rahill plays her husband; Early also stars as Maddie, saying there was “no version” of the film in which he did not play the lead.
The film shifts from retro satire to darker drama as Maddie collapses and enters treatment, drawing on TV movies such as 1986’s “Kate’s Secret” and 1992’s “The Secret Life of Mary-Margaret: Portrait of a Bulimic.”
U.K. and Australian release dates have not been announced, leaving the U.S. debut as the first test of whether Early’s quietly risk-taking film can break through beyond festival audiences.