Oscilloscope Laboratories today released the trailer for Madeline’s Madeline from writer/director Josephine Decker, and starring newcomer newcomer Helena Howard. Madeline’s Madeline will open in theaters in New York on August 10th and Los Angeles on August 17th.

Madeline got the part! She’s going to play the lead in a theater piece! Except the lead wears sweatpants like Madeline’s. And has a cat like Madeline’s. And is holding a steaming hot iron next to her mother’s face – like Madeline is.

Madeline (newcomer Helena Howard) has become an integral part of a prestigious physical theater troupe. When the workshop’s ambitious director (Molly Parker) pushes the teenager to weave her rich interior world and troubled history with her mother (Miranda July) into their collective art, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur. The resulting battle between imagination and appropriation spirals out of the rehearsal space and rips through all three women’s lives.

Writer/director Josephine Decker has long been an independent filmmaker to admire, utilizing a welcome expressionistic approach that imbues her subjects with a vibrant sense of urgency. Anchored by a commanding performance from newcomer Helena Howard, Decker’s exploration of the thin lines between illness and artistry displays a rare sensitivity for capturing the struggles of discovering a sense of one’s self that defies easy narrative categorization.