Directed By Scarlett Johansson

Starring – June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Chiwetel Ejiofor

The Plot – After a devastating loss, witty and proudly troublesome Eleanor Morgenstein (Squibb), 94, tells a tale that takes on a dangerous life of its own.

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some adult language and suggestive references.

ELEANOR THE GREAT | Official Trailer (2025)

POSITIVES

Ever since her Oscar-nominated turn in 2013’s “Nebraska”, June Squibb has been on a career rejuvenation that has made her a force of nature to whatever project that her name is attached to, and while “Eleanor the Great” might fail to meet her efforts halfway, it’s still an opportunity to showcase her impeccably blunt comedic timing, especially in the performance of a character who might come across as unpleasantly crass in less capable hands. As Eleanor, Squibb not only brandishes the unapologetic honesty in observations that have pleasantly adorned films like “Table 19” and “Thelma”, but also conjured the rare opportunity to explore the kind of dramatic depth that so many of her newfound fans haven’t quite had a chance to experience, and it enacts the kind of charming cadence in a character that effortlessly inscribes endearment and empathy to a conflict that she wholeheartedly inspired, but one that the movie wouldn’t be half as a good as it is without. Squibb is joined by memorably complex turns from Erin Kellyman and Chiwetel Ejiofor, with the former dominating more focus of the ensuing narrative and runtime, with Kellyman articulating a tepidly tender channeling, as a result of the character’s own bouts with grief, and while Ejiofor doesn’t truly make an impact until the film’s closing moments, at least emotionally, the role as a reeling news journalist attempting to keep things together under his household is one that the Oscar-nominated actor could play in his sleep, featuring an infusing screen presence that appeals to the film’s benefit, each time his character weaves back into frame. Aside from the performances, Johansson’s debut inside of the director’s chair does merit some highs and lows in her capability as a storyteller, however the best examples of her uniqueness lends itself to single perspective shots within a character conveying memories, which exude some subtle yet effective touches in production values that helps immerse us further in the recollections of the character speaking. Such examples pertain to the outer frame of the environments fading to black, with the character in focus elevated by a commanding spotlight, and while this could easily come across as distractingly disastrous in opting for style during a scene enveloped in substance, the subtle transitions of Johansson’s steering transpire something artistically gratifying, often times before we ever even realize it’s happening. On top of this, Scarlett, with the help of the movie’s solid editing techniques, masterfully blends dual scenes and timelines towards feeling like one cohesive conversation between two sets of interactions, even when that line of separation feels evident from everything we’ve come to understand about Eleanor’s embellishing. Likewise, the music score from composer Dustin O’ Halloran underlines so many of these touching and troubling scenes with sentimental piano driven instrumentals that compliment the material endlessly, without the compositions feeling repetitive or overly-intrusive to the magnitude of the performances that they’re accompanying. As to where I typically find piano alone such a tediously obvious optioning for production’s to reach for, I found such vividly soulful versatility to the kind of humanity that Dustin is tapping into, and while his dependability is called upon quite frequently to the dynamic of so many of the movie’s most emotionally impactful scenes, I never grew overwhelmed or conflicted by the magnitude of his work, and just like Squibb, I feel like O’Halloran is irreplaceable to the movie’s sturdy foundation. Last but not least, the script does make some underwhelming decisions in the structure of its storytelling, but the thematic impulses towards this universal language of grief that everybody deals with differently, is executed seamlessly in a third act that finally allows the film to fire on all cylinders, especially once the characters become honest with each other, as well as themselves. It’s not a journey that personally led me to tears, or even goosebumps, but thematically does feel like it earns everything that it reaches for in piecing how so many of these character subplots work simultaneously with one another, sending audiences home in their highest level of uplifting sentimentality, cementing a feel-good message to a film surrounded by grief and tragedy.

NEGATIVES

Most disappointing to the engagement, the script from screenwriter Tony Kamen does opt for more of the traditional tropes of the many movies centering around the lies of their protagonists, and it leads to a conventionally contrived outline, full of conveniences, that takes a story rooted in so much moral objectivity, and renders it with the least impactful method towards alluring an audience. Instead of outlining scenes naturally in ways that reach for the sincerity in compelling conflicts, the script frequently and clumsily conjures drama from aspects that it doesn’t even attempt to coherently illustrate, particularly in a budding mother and daughter relationship, as well as Eleanor’s way into the Holocaust survivors meeting, which both require a bit of a suspension of disbelief, in order to not see the obvious pay-offs to each coming from miles away. On top of this, the film tonally gets off to a bit of a sluggish start during its opening act, with far more dependency on humor that makes it a bit harder to option for drama, once the film settles in, around its midway point. There’s certainly a sense of rushed development with these characters that feels victim of the film’s 93-minute runtime, but I truly feel that the bigger problem is an almost timidness with the material to delve into the grief of their characters, in order to make the audience uncomfortable any longer than necessary, and though the third act finally masters this by allowing the real victim of Eleanor’s story to be framed entirely from her perspective, the rest of the film’s dramatic moments typically come mere minutes after Eleanor discussing her thirst for sex, or giving a fellow mass attendee the middle finger, after that person asked for silence, and it leaves the film’s tone consistently clashing around a barrage of varying characters and stacking subplots, to the point that the humor and the comedy don’t work especially well with another, the longer the film persists. Then there’s Johansson, who even in a directorial debut doesn’t come out unscathed, particularly with the condensed vision that she has towards the presentation, which makes it feel very streamlined and unsubstantial. While Johansson does have a firm grip on the framing of her established conflict, garnering empathy towards Eleanor, without deliberately absolving her of her white lie, the director’s intricacies towards camera placement and framing leave slightly more to be desired, enacting a comfortably bland and lifeless looking film that lacks any kind of pizazz to capture audience attention with scope and ambition, and though so much of the film’s heart resides in the dynamic of the aforementioned performances, Johansson doesn’t exactly sell her distinct brand of vision in tow with that intention, and it results in an experience that wastes away so many fascinating locations and temperaments to environments that an experimental director would chew intoxicatingly. Finally, while the performances are quite exceptional from such a talented trio, the characters themselves feel a bit surface level and shallow to feel truly engaging, creating a bit of unforeseen difficulty with the opening act, requiring more time than I would’ve preferred getting invested to this narrative. Because the script never approaches these characters outside of their grief, we rarely get an attempt to see who they are as people, beyond what such an unnatural form of dialogue constantly expresses to us, and in a film that constantly searches for a heartfelt center to a story that it should spring effortlessly from, I honestly could’ve used more of the foundational building moments between Eleanor and Nina, to deviate away from the predictability, in turn giving us a greater sense of lived-in depth that transcends the film’s captivity.

OVERALL
“Eleanor the Great” nearly squanders the sensitivity of its poignantly remarkable story about the complex responses to grief, with its derivative script and visual lifelessness that threatens to squander Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut. Overcoming such adversity, the film rests its trust in the appeal of another charmingly gut-busting performance from June Squibb at its disposal, as well as a meaningful third act that finally realizes the extent of its endless potential, and while the results are conflicted within its own inconsistent execution, it’s still a simply intimate slice of life that stirs the sentiment.

My Grade: 6.6 or C+