Madison Iseman

In Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Madison Iseman's Bethany has to remain recognisable when Jack Black takes over as her game avatar. The pair coordinated their performances, an important job in a comedy built around body-swapping. Iseman's contribution is necessarily shared, and much of the comic pay-off belongs to Black. We laughed because the cast's timing made those familiar body-swap jokes work, even when the action was routine.

Jake Kasdan gets enough warmth from the ensemble to make that film worth an evening, without making the material less familiar. Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) brings Iseman back as Bethany, but the prolonged action and familiar quest make it a modest return. Neither film gives us grounds to single her out above the ensemble. We would recommend the first more readily than the second, and resist treating a recognisable franchise credit as proof of an exceptional performance.

The move into more substantial genre parts asks more of her. As Mary Ellen in Annabelle Comes Home (2019), she works through fast-paced horror sequences with young co-stars. Clouds (2020) gives her a dramatic supporting part, while Fear of Rain (2021) makes her the lead in a psychological thriller. The latter calls for sustained tension, but its formula limits how far the character can develop. We would like her scripts to give her more to explore, rather than simply more pressure to convey.

In the television series I Know What You Did Last Summer (2021), she plays Alison and Lennon Grant, contrasting twins, with the additional technical demands of working with doubles. That brings us back to the useful skill behind Bethany: making her performance work alongside another, even when both are hers. It gives us a concrete reason to follow her work without pretending that every demanding assignment produces a satisfying film. Start with Welcome to the Jungle for the ensemble comedy; the sequel is for those already fond of the cast.