A nomination for the cinematographer, the editor and perhaps Helena Howard. We seldom (maybe never) escape the inner life of Helena's character, Madeline, who suffers from bouts of severe dissociation. Beneath the dissociation, a half-dozen psychiatric disorders are suggested, some inflected by her mother. Watching Helena fade into and out of dissociation was genuinely therapeutic, for me. For a general audience? Judging from the response last night, I'd say: the relentlessly expressive cinematography and sound track interferes with a build-up of emotion or clarity of narration, for most folks. But creatives and especially actors will love the energy and forgive the chaos, mostly because of a spectacular ending: here's what it feels like to turn life into art. And perhaps begin to heal.
Review of Madeline's Madeline
