“Tallie Medel, a diminutive Alaskan actress-dancer with Alita-like eyes, whose special qualities have so far been underutilized by American cinema [...] turns in a marvelous, utterly engaging portrait of an intelligent, caring person slowly stretched to breaking point.”

“With the Oscars expanding its horizons this year, it’ll be interesting to see if anyone gives worthier performances than Tallie Medel as a frustrated teacher’s aid, and Norma Kuhling as her magnetic but unstable childhood friend.”

“Like his last film, Sallitt’s latest features Tallie Medel in the lead, truly one of the most evocative and interesting actresses working in American cinema, one whose huge eyes, moppet haircut, and small stature allow for clownishly expressive behavior akin to Giulietta Masina.”

“As the quiet center of Fourteen, Tallie Medel builds on her previous, already considerable collaboration with Dan Sallitt to produce a performance suffused with the weight of responsibility. Through both her character’s attempts to support her unstable friend, played by a similarly magnificent Norma Kuhling, and her romantic life and young motherhood, Medel undergoes a profound transformation while never losing an essential sense of ambivalence born from care, serving as a brilliant and expressive anchor. ”

“Tallie Medel as Mara pierces you with a simultaneous sense of awe and guardedness as she loves a friend who needs more than she could ever give. ”

“Medel runs the emotional gauntlet in Johnson’s debut, all within a rather short time period; she brilliantly weaves her way through a number of mindstates, always with energy and honesty, segueing from honeymoon stage to artistic expression to self-doubt to creative/existential crisis, and finally to a woman fed-up unleashing pent-up anger while double-fisting tequila and Corona. Perhaps, this year’s best.”

“Medel is a remarkable young actress who conveys Jackie’s complicated thought processes and emotional responses—both subtle and bold—with fluidity and a total lack of self-consciousness.”

“[A] remarkable showcase for newcomer Tallie Medel […] The wild-eyed Medel suggests a young Christina Ricci, but Jackie exists in a class of her own: Her affluent background allows for a character both wise beyond her years and hopelessly trapped in them. “I’m prematurely old,” she whines — but unlike, say, Juno, she’s not snarky about it. There’s an intensity to Medel’s performance that makes it both creepy and totally authentic at once.”