Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

studyhebrew I usually don't watch the same film twice. But Waking Madison demanded a second viewing. Madison gnawed at me for weeks invading my daily life, distracting my routine. My inner voice kept telling me that I needed to watch it again. So I finally took a second look. I usually avoid psychological dramas like the plague. I'm usually lost most of the time. I'm not one of those people who like to figure out what's happening, to guess the ending. Instead, I wait as the plot unfolds. I'm willing to dispel reality for two hours and just watch. What Katherine Brooks has created is a raw, sometimes painful to watch,skillfully detailed story about a woman who can't take living the life she lives anymore. In fact, she is desperate to change it. We meet Madison Walker, lusciously played by Sarah Roemer, as she stares directly into the camera in the first frame and tells us that if things don't change within 30 days, she's going to kill herself. That's the way she says hello. Suddenly we're in a hospital watching her being interviewed by therapist Dr. Barnes (Elizabeth Shue). Madison is quiet and sedate and insists that she would never attempt to take her own life. Yet in the next scene when we see her in her apartment, down on her hands and knees sopping up the floor covered by the buckets of blood left behind from her having slit her wrists, the viewer can feel her anguish and fear as her eyes fill with tears at the realization that she did indeed attempt to kill herself, yet doesn't remember a thing. Ms. Roemer plays Madison with such subtlety and grace that it was a joy to watch. She could be our sister or daughter or best friend. We all seem to know a Madison. Her constant exhaustion and tear filled eyes reflect the agony she experiences every moment of every day while constantly working to put one foot in front of the other. When Madison takes Dr.Barnes' advice and checks herself into a mental hospital she meets a variety of characters. First there is Margaret, who can't resist the temptation to abuse someone weaker, who's always looking for a fight,and always finds one. Talented Taryn Manning brings a physical and psychic energy to Margaret that makes her easy to dislike. At the same time, there is a vulnerability about this young bully which tugs at our heartstrings. The character of Alexis can be grating because she is so terribly needy and childlike but Imogene Poots' walks the line carefully so as not to alienate her viewers. We believe she is this waif-like girl-woman who is damaged to the point of near non-return and we feel angry at Margaret who constantly tortures her. And then there is Erin Kelly, who plays Grace, the young 20-something who accepts her lot in life and gets anything she wants by offering sexual favors. It was a real treat to watch Ms. Kelly, as she's grown considerably as an actress since her days in Loving Annabelle. I've never been a big Elizabeth Shue fan and this film didn't change my mind….until near the end, when I understood her performance. Until then she often seemed out of character. The small things.....exhibiting fear when Margaret threatens her, her unprofessional emotional attachment to Madison, her losing her cool in the hospital when her patients don't want to cooperate and the one that drove me over the edge…curling her hair with her fingers during a therapy session. Yet, as the movie progressed, it becomes evident why so many of her behaviors seemed so wrong. It was at that moment that I truly appreciated Ms. Shue's restrained performance and Ms. Brooks'adept direction. Two more actresses deserve special mention: Connor Ann Waterman (young Madison) is near perfection. It's easy to understand how grown up Madison suffered as a child through Ms. Waterman's charmingly, innocent performance. And Frances Conroy as Madison's crazed religious fanatic Mom was fabulous. Bottom line, it is Katherine Brooks' script and direction that keeps haunting me about this film. I know very little about Ms. Brooks except that she's in her mid-thirties and that she's been on her own since age 16. However, knowing that she not only directed but wrote this piece blows me away. Brilliant is the only word that comes to mind. She made some absolutely brilliant choices. The lighting and camera angles in the hospital, the transitions from hospital to apartment and back again, from past to present, from alter to alter. I realize that 315 is an important number to Ms. Brooks, yet I have no idea why. Was she trying to help us relate to Madison? Should I know but simply can't remember? Ms. Brooks is a master storyteller who doesn't have any qualms forcing the viewer to wait patiently while she weaves her tale until she is ready to gently reel you in when she wants you to know more. I loved the final therapy scene as the camera literally floated slowly back and forth allowing us to look through the lens of the ever-present video camera and we re-hear some of the same dialogue we heard earlier. But now it all makes sense…or almost all. Inspired. Ingenious. Brilliant. I feel as though I know Katherine Brooks after watching this film. Do I? Probably not. But with Waking Madison, she is giving us something that seems so personal, so overflowing with secrets, so jam packed with suffering, and then finally hope, that I feel as though I'm looking deep into her soul. So I can't help but speculate on how much is actually her and how much simply comes from her creative genius. And I wonder if she's trying to tell us something without really saying a word. Watch the film. Then…watch it again.

rr_g96 Here is a small taste of what you can find posted on the director/writer's FB page (Kathern Brooks): "Hello Everyone. We Need your help. Could You Guys Make Your Vote at IMDb A 6 and also make sure to vote one-point above for another 10 movies (if the movie is 6.0, rate it 5 or 7)? This Way, Your Votes Will matter A LOT for the movie and hopefully IMDb will start giving us a rating better than 4.8. THANK YOU!! xoxox ... if you write a review on Amazon, Netflix or IMDb you will get a signed poster from Katherine Brooks!" And here is a message to people who haven't even watched it: "If You Haven't seen the movie but are waiting to see it, please give us a positive rating on IMDb, Amazon or Netflix, and when you do, say "done" here. Thank You! xoxox" This definitely explains all the phony reviews here and on other sites. I found this film extremely dull and I do not recommend it. This is just a truly bad story with trite characters (good looking, but TRITE). I hope this gets published so the public can get an honest idea of these reviews and get a clue that not everyone liked it. Also, if you saw Loving Annabelle or came across a review for this on some lesbian sites and are expecting a lesbian-themed movie here, don't. This is not a romance and this is not erotica. This is not a story about lesbians. My one star is dedicated to the presence of Elizabeth Shue who was not only gorgeous to look at, but the best actor in this film. I would also like to dedicate one invisible star to Erin Kelly who appeared a bit, but was not captured as the intriguing character we saw in Loving Annabelle. Now that's just bad, bad directing this time around... because she is capable of being one fascinating and stunning creature. Bless you Elizabeth Shue for making an appearance... you should have been the teacher in Loving Annabelle...

Fro Tasevska Waking Madison is one of the most dramatic, emotional and intriguing movie I've seen in the last few years. It is extremely touching movie with some autobiographical moments and truly encouraging one written with great love and maturity. Director Katherine Brooks really outdid herself with this movie. Once again she shows to us how truly commit she is to the movies she makes.This movie has an intense power running through it till the end. The best thing about Waking Madison is, that it's so real and natural based upon the trauma and experience of the author herself. It shows reality as it is. For some of us, seeing or better accepting the reality sometimes is so hard, that we want just to give up instead putting all the pieces together and going on our path life. You can learn a lot from this movie. It is worth every minute to watch it. Well done, Katherine !!!

ashleylukas33 Yet another amazing movie coming from Katherine Brooks.. Her work continues to amaze me. I became a HUGE fan of her work after seeing Loving Annabelle, which I have made every one of my friends watch! haha...I thought it couldn't get much better than that, but after seeing Waking Madison she has definitely taken it to a whole other level. I love it...I don't want any spoilers but it definitely is a must see! I think it's not only about the movie but how involved she is as a director that makes her movies so amazing! You have to see how she truly commits herself to a film, I can't say enough about her or the movies she makes. They relate to so many of us on so many different levels.