How Much of a Good Thing Is Too Much

Read Time:2 Minute, 55 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Madelines

Genre: Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Year Released: 2022
Runtime: 1h 20m
Director: Jason R. Miller
Writer(s): Brea Grant, Jason R. Miller
Cast: Brea Grant, Parry Shen, Richard Riehle
Where To Watch: In select theaters and ON DEMAND starting 4/1

Wow! I wasn’t even remotely prepared for this, which made it that much better! This was an absolute joyride from the first scene to the last, and a lot of that is thanks to Brea Grant (Madeline), who stars in the film and was a co-writer. Without giving too much away, she manages to play a whole cast of characters and, in doing so, makes the film a fun thrill ride of twists and turns.

That’s not to take away from the rest of the cast, including Parry Shen (Owen), who plays opposite Grant and acts as a foil to her character in some ways. Richard Riehle (Rory), who, if you love OFFICE SPACE (and many other films), will be familiar to you, instantly plays a minor role but has some critical moments that move the film's story along.

While I’m not familiar with any of the director Jason R. Miller’s other films, he offered a unique and exciting feel throughout the film. It was a very personal film considering only three actors in the main cast. However, he was able to bring a larger-than-life feeling to a lot of the scenes. It’s moments like this where I wish I were able to offer up some spoilers to help explain. I feel it’s still more important to go into a film blind than giveaway any essential story elements.

As a whole, this is just a fun film, a lot of movies strive for that balance, and I think they miss out on what makes a film enjoyable. The horror/comedy genre is tough to stick to, but we get a perfect balance here, neither of which is the primary genre, and the creative team behind the film very much knew what they were creating. The script, the acting, the score, the look, everything just melded together to create what I think was a delightful experience. It’s a movie that you can sit down and just enjoy!

Sometimes simplicity is the key to a story; while there is a lot to take in, the important story here is straightforward and makes this horror/comedy that much more fun. The film could have easily gotten weighed down with a lot of “science,” but instead, the film was in some ways an homage to the 80s with an unbelievable score and a few shots that are a wink and a nod to WEIRD SCIENCE. Reference’s to BACK TO THE FUTURE just make this film that much more of a love story to the genre that it is now and forever a part of.

A very big thank you to dominion3 Public Relations and Gravitas Ventures for allowing me to screen what is easily my favorite film of the year so far!

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