June Squibb delivers a raucous, poignant, and delightfully inappropriate performance in Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson’s surprisingly confident directorial debut. At 95, Squibb proves she’s not just a scene-stealer — she is the scene.
The film opens with Eleanor Morgenstein, a snappy, independent nonagenarian living in Florida with her lifelong best friend Bessie. After Bessie’s sudden passing, Eleanor relocates to New York City to live with her daughter and grandson. But what begins as a family drama soon spirals into a tangled web of identity, grief, and performative truth-telling.
Eleanor’s accidental entrance into a Holocaust survivor support group leads to her hijacking Bessie’s traumatic past as her own. It’s an outrageous act — one the film explores with both comedic bite and emotional restraint. While Johansson doesn’t fully push the moral stakes, she frames Eleanor not as a villain but as a woman overwhelmed by loss and desperate for meaning.
The film’s strength lies in Squibb’s electric performance — equal parts sharp-tongued and heartbreaking. Erin Kellyman provides a grounded counterbalance as Nina, a young journalist caught between truth and compassion.
Though Eleanor the Great doesn’t always land its tonal balancing act, it’s a compelling showcase for Squibb and a promising start to Johansson’s next act behind the camera.
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