Eleanor the Great

Review: This 2025 drama that marks the directorial debut of Scarlett Johansson follows a 94-year old woman who moves to New York after the death of her best friend and forms a new, unlikely friendship with a 19-year old student. The film deals with a lot of heavy topics, with grief taking the forefront, but also touching on loneliness, aging, and religious (specifically Jewish) identity. Starring June Squibb as Eleanor, Erin Kellyman plays the supporting role of the student, Nina, while Jessica Hecht & Chiwetel Ejiofor also appear as Eleanor’s daughter & Nina’s father, respectively. We also get a very brief but strong performance from Rita Zohar as Eleanor’s best friend. The film has a lot of strengths including it’s subject matter handling, the score by Dustin O’Halloran, and ScarJo’s direction. And while the story isn’t necessary revolutionary, it is very original and should get a lot more recognition than it has.

High: Like I said, there were several strengths, but the high has got to be Squibb’s performance. While I don’t foresee this happening, I would love to see Squibb nominated for Best Actress at the upcoming Academy Awards. Every time I see Jun Squibb it makes me think of own grandma in a very bittersweet way. All of the performances were pretty strong, with this being a super emotional performance from Erin Kellyman. I also feel that Chiwetel Ejiofor is an actor that is not appreciated enough for the depth & severity that he brings to every role he takes on.

Low: Movies where people lie & are inevitably going to get found out give me so much anxiety. That was true with this film and it was actually making me kind of sweaty. So the low is that I got sweaty.

Rating: ?/10