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2026 Sarasota Film Festival

Maddie's Secret

2026โ€ข 1 hr 38 minโ€ข United Statesโ€ข English

Screenings

  • ๐Ÿ“…

    Saturday, April 18 at 6:30 PM EDT

    Ends 8:30 PM EDT

    ๐Ÿ“

    Cinebistro

    3501 S Tamiami Trail Suite 1100, Sarasota, FL 34239, United States

About this film

Comedian, writer, and actor John Early's critically acclaimed directorial debut starring himself as Maddie, a plucky dishwasher who leaps to viral superstardom at a trendy food content creation company, where mounting professional pressures threaten to reawaken a hidden secret from her troubled past. By day, bright-eyed, kind-hearted Maddie is a dishwasher at Gourmaybe, a trendy Los Angeles food content creation company, and at night makes scrumptious vegetarian dishes, captured in videos by her devoted husband Jake (Eric Rahill). When one of the videos goes viral and she is thrust into the spotlight, the pressure heralds the inopportune return of a long-dormant struggle with an eating disorder. Channelling 1950s melodrama through a camp 1980s movie of the week aesthetic, Maddie's Secret is a sympathetic portrayal of a woman trying to conceal her eating disorder and a riotous satirical commentary on contemporary influencer culture.

Credits

Director
John Early
Producer
Luca Intili, Harris Mayersohn, John Early
Executive Producer
Tyler Boehm, Chris Quintos Cathcart, Theodore Schaefer, Hannah Dweck
Screenwriter
John Early
Cinematographer
Max Lakner
Cast
John Early, Kate Berlant, Conner O'Malley
Narrative FeatureLGBTQ+Comedy