‘Eleanor The Great’ Movie Review: A Good Showcase For June Squibb’s Greatness
Photo from Sony Pictures Classics
From Jeremy Kibler
Following last year’s charming Thelma, the great June Squibb gets another vehicle as the titular character of the story. At 95 years young, national treasure Squibb is such a vibrant presence and gets the opportunity to play a multifaceted character who is stubborn, sharp-tongued but loving, and still capable of making mistakes (even a morally questionable one that incites the plot). From a script by Tory Kamen and directed by Scarlett Johansson, Eleanor the Great is a seriocomedy both heartbreaking and very human about grief and new beginnings into one’s golden years.
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein and Elizabeth “Bessie” Stern (a moving Rita Zohar) have been roommates for 11 years in a Florida apartment and best friends for 70. Once Bessie collapses in the grocery store and never leaves the hospital, Eleanor soon finds herself stripping Bessie’s bed and doing everything alone. Feeling alone without her companion, she decides to move back to New York City and live with her divorced daughter Lisa (Jessica Hecht) and grandson Max (Will Price). Lisa encourages her to attend a singing class at the Jewish Community Center and make some friends. Instead, Eleanor gets greeted and welcomed into a support group, and of all the support groups in NYC, it’s one for Holocaust survivors. As a new member, Eleanor is pressed to tell her story, and on a whim, she tells a Holocaust survival story that belongs to Bessie. This lie gives Eleanor much more than she bargains for, but also the unlikely friendship of NYU journalism student Nina (Erin Kellyman, a natural presence).
Be it the timing of release—or screenwriters attend the same brainstorm group—but Eleanor the Great shares a core commonality with James Sweeney’s Twinless. Looking past that, itself a plot contrivance to get the motor running, followed by another contrivance involving Bessie’s favorite news anchor Roger Davis (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Tory Kamen’s screenplay still finds something mutually healing in companionship while grieving. Beyond what feels a little artificial on a narrative level (especially once a small story becomes bigger), every universal bit of loss and wisdom feels true. Despite their generational gap of 75 years, Eleanor and Nina’s friendship is sweet and tender to watch; there may be an ulterior motive on Nina’s part, but they have something in common, both having lost someone recently (Nina has lost her mother six months ago).
For a film that is so melancholy, Eleanor the Great is naturally funny, too, thanks to Squibb’s wonderfully delicate work. It’s established early on in her weekly grocery run with Bessie that Eleanor has a way of getting what she wants, like a jar of kosher pickles from a lazy stockboy. She’s pushy and irrepressible, and she can lie through her charisma. The film has great affection for Eleanor, even when she gives in and tells someone else’s story as her own. It doesn’t judge Eleanor for her charade when she’s lost in her own grief and loneliness; there’s no desire to be in the spotlight, but along with her bereavement, Eleanor gets lost in the lie.
This notably marks the feature directorial debut of Scarlett Johansson, and her direction is unfussy and observational. The introduction of Eleanor and Bessie’s friendship in the routine of their days is quite lovely, as they wake up from their twin beds in the same bedroom, cook breakfast together, and then walk along the beach boardwalk. Thereon, there’s a grace and a beautiful simplicity to how Johansson tells this story like a New York comedy without the ick of Woody Allen. Eleanor the Great follows a pretty formulaic path before ending on a perfectly poignant note, but with June Squibb being flat-out great here, it’s allowed.
Rating: 3.5/5
Eleanor the Great hits theaters on September 26, 2025.
