‘Maddie’s Secret’ and ‘Rose of Nevada’ Are Surprisingly Satisfying Back-to-Back

July 3, 2026

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

A Rose with any other Secret… (CREDIT: 1-2 Special; Magnolia Pictures/Screenshot)

Maddie’s Secret

Starring: John Early, Kate Berlant, Eric Rahill, Kristen Johnston, Claudia O’Doherty, Conner O’Malley, Vanessa Bayer, Chris Bauer, Nate Varrone, Pat Regan, Frankie Quiñones, Merrick McCartha

Director: John Early

Running Time: 101 Minutes

Rating: Unrated

Release Date: June 19, 2026 (Theaters)

Rose of Nevada

Starring: George MacKay, Callum Turner, Rosalind Eleazar, Francis Magee, Mary Woodvine, Edward Rowe, Adrian Rawlins, Yana Penrose, Emily Daglish-Laine, Mae Voogd

Director: Mark Jenkin

Running Time: 114 Minutes

Rating: Unrated

Release Date: June 19, 2026 (Theaters)

Maddie’s Secret and Rose of Nevada are two indie flicks that arrived in American theaters on the exact same date (6/19/26) and that both lasered in on something very specific in my personality, and I think that everybody who reads my words should know that. The former, in which John Early writes, directs, and stars at the nexus of food-content parody and melodramatically open-minded storytelling is perfectly queer in a way that just feels so right to me as a big-hearted pop culture obsessive (who just so happens to be straight). Meanwhile, the latter is about a boat that inexplicably goes back in time, with correspondingly disorienting sound design. It’s a trip that I imagine I won’t ever stop fully ruminating upon. So now you know all that about me! And the more you know… 

Grades:
Maddie’s Secret: 4 Recipes out of 5 Secrets
Rose of Nevada: 444 Roses out of 555 Infinity Nevadas

‘The Damned’ is a Fairly Interesting January 2025 Movie Release

January 17, 2025

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Portrait of The Damned in Snow (CREDIT: Vertical Entertainment)

Starring: Odessa Young, Joe Cole, Rory McCann, Siobhan Finneran, Francis Magee, Turlough Convery, Mícheál Óg Lane, Lewi Gribben, Andrean Sigurgeirsson, Guillermo Uria

Director: Thordur Palsson

Running Time: 89 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: January 3, 2025 (Theaters)

I don’t want to be damned! Nor do I want to be in the location where the Thordur Palsson-directed movie The Damned is set, i.e., an Arctic bay that’s days away from the nearest village. Brr, that sounds cold! Although that’s not the biggest problem. I could find a way to survive the below-zero temps, but the lack of sunlight would really just not work for me. Also, the hallucinations that are apparently running rampant don’t sound so great. I enjoy analyzing hallucinations from the outside, but actually interacting with them – and living to tell the tale – is a little trickier.

Grade: Frostbite & Brainfreeze