Release: Material Girl

 

Material Girl

Genre: Biography/Drama/Music

Director: Alma Har'el

Writer: Diane Esposito

Cast: Chloe Grace Moretz, Diego Boneta, Dylan O'Brien, Joe Alwyn, Algee Smith, Johnny Galecki, Jovan Adepo, Lamorne Morris

Budget: $28,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $77,303,055

Foreign Box Office: $45,185,120

Total Profit: $55,111,993

Reaction: Even without Swifties showing up in full-force, writer Diane Esposito has a second extremely successful female music biopic in just three seasons.

"Material Girl is a fearless, pulse-pounding portrait of ambition sharpened into a blade. Chloe Grace Moretz fully transforms into Madonna—equal parts reckless youth, sexed-up street punk, and marketing genius—without ever asking for the audience’s approval. Director Alma Har’el and writer Diane Esposito don’t frame Madonna as a saint or martyr but as a disruptor who learned to weaponize desire and rejection into momentum. The film is messy, loud, and at times cruel - but so is its subject." - Lana Rourke, The Celluloid Current

“We’ve all seen biographies about musicians before, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen one about a particular song, or really focus in on Madonna’s early days in the music industry. Lucky for us, the film proves its worthiness thanks to great soundtrack and a seductive performance by Chloe Grace Moretz.” - Mitchell Parker, New York Times

"What makes Material Girl so compelling is precisely what will make Madonna hate it. The filmmakers have crafted a raw, unsentimental take on pop's ultimate provocateur - eschewing hagiography for something colder, more human, and, frankly, more interesting. Chloe Grace Moretz plays Madonna as a force of nature, but not without flaws: calculating, callous, and completely addicted to control. It’s a film unafraid to get under the skin, even when the glamour fades and the ambition curdles. That discomfort is its strength. This isn’t the Madonna of magazine covers - it’s the one still clawing her way into the frame." - Cyrus Delaney – RetroSpectre Quarterly

Rated R for language, drug use, sexual content, and thematic material