Maddie | Coming of Age Short Film

17 year old Maddie wishes someone would pay attention to her, when J.J. appears, she gets what she thought she wanted.

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"Zane Rubin’s Maddie starts out in a slightly dreamy mood, immersing its audience alongside the film’s titular teenage protagonist. Her preoccupations seem to be typical for a girl her age: she watches the videos of a boy/influencer she adores on her phone and in true TikTok fashion tries to emulate his moves, which are affectedly sexualized. Reality hits Maddie in the form of a Boston terrier and its owner, J.J. When the college student starts making conversation, a comment about her shirt soon leads to an invitation to his house. Although he remarks on their age difference, he doesn’t seem to be too bothered by it, but Maddie is more unsure of the entire ordeal, following him out of seeming curiosity and some kind of shame of telling the guy off.

The uncomfortable atmosphere of what unfolds next is better seen than described, but it’s safe to say that for all its tension, nothing in the short feels out of the ordinary or exaggerated. What probably lingers most for Maddie is how the experience changes her view on perceptions she thought she had just an hour or so ago.

This sentiment describes the dichotomy that Addison Riecke’s main performance captures. The former child actress (Nickelodeon’s The Thundermans) portrays Maddie as a teenage girl who is caught between her own desire to seem mature and her childish innocence, without ever making her seem overly naive. Riecke’s countenance adheres to the character’s unwieldiness in order to channel an inner conflict that feels unsure and restrained like Maddie herself. Yet her simmering nervousness always hints at the potential for an intense emotional reaction, one she's fighting to keep under guard.

Larson Rainier has a similarly difficult job in the role of J.J., a man who is clearly misbehaving, but isn’t caricatured as an evil monster. He even comes across as a bit insecure himself, although his intentions are questionable from the get-go. Drew Scheid rounds out the cast as the apparently “nice guy“ who still gets cast in a shady light, simply by proxy, and provides one last spin to the story that leaves a very strange aftertaste.

We’ve been following Zane Rubin’s work for a while now at S/W and I always find it interesting when a filmmaker cultivates a unique style and then expands on that promise within these specific artistic sensibilities, thus creating a link between their previous output and elevating the next step in their career. Which is exactly how I feel about Maddie.

While Rubin’s previously featured shorts (The Last Virgin in LA, A Good Dinner Party) saw the filmmaker cast herself in front of the camera and apply a particular awkward humor to stories that dealt with topics connected to sexuality, her latest film builds on the foundation of her creative point of view with additional range. Even without her presence on screen, Maddie still feels unmistakably her own.

The slightly heightened perception of reality in her precursors make room for what I’d like to coin as “Californian naturalism," which connects to the rest of her oeuvre through a distinct low-key vibe that focuses on a constrained premise which insinuates the larger framework around it. Like her other films, Maddie again centers on matters of sexuality and an inability to adequately handle the overextending situation. But this time, Rubin’s trademark self-irony and winks at the audience are exchanged for a more somber, ambivalent tone.

It is one of the biggest strengths of the short that it manages to establish an uncomfortable tension throughout the film without feeling too overwhelming or heavy-handed. This doesn’t mean that Rubin takes the story and its themes lightly. On the contrary, her direction feels confident in its serenity. The situation is clearly distressing, but it could have been staged in a much more obvious way.

Reproduced on this channel with the permission of the filmmakers.

[FDR-wwxz]

Who knew that Nickelodeon sitcoms actors would be so talented when they’re not in Nickelodeon.

[octobermist]

Proof that "nice guys" aren't actually nice guys. They can be a lot scarier than the "asshole type" especially since nice guys tend to feel entitled to the women and her body simply because they did something nice, and can become very belligerent and manipulative when they don't get their way. All under the guise that they're a nice guy so why wouldn't you like them. I felt more uneasy with the boy that drove her home, rather than the guy she was in the room with. Nice guys are more inclined to act out in violent/forceful ways when they don't get what they want due to the extreme entitlement they feel over women and thier bodies.

[Cartier_specialist]

She's quite a good actress for her age.

[Winterhert]

4:20 nice detail when he handled his Vinyls lmao

[ekkehard]

Was he gaslighting her at minute 8? Is cuddling like that normal? Nice guy was so cringey btw. I'm sad this whole thing made her scared of interacting with her tiktok crush, but honestly, that fear may be founded.

[DarkandTwisted]

"17-year-old Maddie wishes someone would pay attention to her; when J.J. appears, she gets what she thought she wanted." That's the problem with so many girls and even grown women, always wanting some dude to pay attention to them. Well, how about you pay attention to yourself and focus on being successful in life. Stop conforming. Stay away from guys, all guys want is one thing. And if anyone tells you differently, they are lying. And FYI, there are no "good guys", especially at that age. As I said, they only want one thing. And if you do not believe me, try telling a guy that you never will have sex with him or that you were born without a vagina. Let see how fast he runs.

[itsmith]

I have such a huge crush on Drew Scheid that if he gave me a ride home I wouldn't calm at all, i'd be a freakin mess

[artscafe]

Did the uploading channel make this film? I don't think they get the concept of "coming of age"

[randomland]

Ain’t that the little girl from The Thundermans?

[Oceans.]

Well done! That scene made me uncomfortable but it was supposed to. Typical A-hole kind of guy. Good for her to book it!

[Anti-FreedomD.P.R.ofSouthKorea]

Any intention explainable of why the hell the car'd turn around at the very end?

[maninblue]

It's nice to see Addison Reicke in a more mature role here.

[Simran_Anand]

😄can someone please suggest me a good novel for reading📖