June Squibb as Eleanor in ‘Eleanor the Nice’ Picture: Anne Joyce. Courtesy of Sony Photos Classics.
Opening in theaters September 26 is ‘Eleanor the Nice,’ directed by Scarlett Johansson and starring June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Jessica Hecht, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Will Worth, and Rita Zohar.
Launch Date: Sep 26, 2025
Run Time: 1 hr 38 min
Associated Article: 20 Greatest Motion pictures of Scarlett Johansson’s Profession Ranked from Worst to Greatest
Preliminary Ideas
(L to R) June Squibb as Eleanor, Rita Zohar as Bessie in ‘Eleanor the Nice’ Picture: Anne Joyce. Courtesy of Sony Photos Classics.
Like many actors earlier than her, Scarlett Johansson strikes from in entrance of the digital camera to behind it for her directorial debut, ‘Eleanor the Nice.’ And there may be expertise there: Johansson’s path is usually unfussy and she or he largely stays out of her personal method in laying out this intimate comedy-drama.
She’s additionally aided immensely by one other super efficiency from 95-year-old June Squibb, who’s as irascible and steadfast as she was in her knockout 2024 starring automobile, ‘Thelma.’ However each the director and her main woman are let down partly by a script that makes a deadly Hollywood mistake – and all in service about what’s sometimes a profound story of loss and remembrance, advised within the shadow of the Holocaust however dangerously coming near undermining it.
Story and Route
Scarlett Johansson, June Squibb on the set of ‘Eleanor the Nice’ Picture: Anne Joyce. Courtesy of Sony Photos Classics.
Eleanor Morgenstern (June Squibb), 94 years previous, is widowed but residing contentedly in Florida together with her greatest pal, Bessie (Rita Zohar). However an abrupt change in circumstances forces Eleanor to maneuver to New York Metropolis, the place she initially strikes in together with her daughter Lisa (Jessica Hecht) and her grandson (Will Worth), a situation with which nobody is especially snug.
Feeling adrift and distant from her household, Eleanor wanders right into a assist group for Holocaust survivors – and begins to inform the story of Bessie, herself a survivor who by no means shared her expertise with anybody however Eleanor, as if it was her personal. She attracts the eye of a younger journalism pupil named Nina (Erin Kellyman), who’s making a movie concerning the survivors, and shortly turns into a pal and mentor to Nina and even meets her father, a neighborhood New York information anchor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) – all whereas her ill-conceived lie takes on a lifetime of its personal.
Scarlett Johansson on the set of ‘Eleanor the Nice’ Picture: Anne Joyce. Courtesy of Sony Photos Classics.
And that’s the place Tory Kamen’s script goes fallacious: in pretending to have lived Bessie’s life, Eleanor creates a horrible drawback that didn’t have to occur. She may simply stroll into that survivors’ group, apologize for being within the fallacious room, however nonetheless supply to speak about her pal Bessie – and even perhaps be welcomed. There’s one other model of this film through which she does that. However her mistake – mendacity that she herself is the survivor — feels much less natural than contrived for the needs of creating this film, which provides the film an air of being intentionally manipulative even because it struggles with its tone.
That’s to not say that Johansson and her actors don’t get numerous good moments out of this materials. They do, notably in Eleanor and Bessie’s early scenes collectively, and later when Eleanor is determined to salvage the relationships she fosters in New York. The movie does even have some poignant meditations on grief and the function of household, and it’s additionally a properly realized New York Metropolis film in a 12 months that’s seen some good ones already. However the seriousness of Eleanor’s mistake, and the needlessness of it, clashes with each the darkness of Bessie’s story and the extra lighthearted elements of the movie.
Solid and Performances
(L to R) June Squibb as Eleanor, Erin Kellyman as Nina, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Roger in ‘Eleanor the Nice’ Picture: Jojo Whilden. Courtesy of Sony Photos Classics.
The forged right here is sort of sturdy – and Johansson provides a word of actual gravitas by casting actual survivors as a part of the assist group – however that is June Squibb’s present all the way in which. Regardless of the script’s issues, which threaten our empathy with Eleanor, Squibb overcomes that together with her wit, her candor, and her mixture of compassion, heartbreak, and stubbornness, giving this actor one other spectacular notch in her unimaginable profession renaissance.
Ejiofor and Hecht are good in considerably underwritten roles, however the different standout is Erin Kellyman as Nina, who’s coping with her personal sense of loss and looking for her method on the planet as a younger girl. Her intelligence and charisma shine by means of.
Closing Ideas
(L to R) June Squibb as Eleanor, Erin Kellyman as Nina in ‘Eleanor the Nice’. Picture: Anne Joyce. Courtesy of Sony Photos Classics.
We’ll definitely give Scarlett Johansson kudos for tackling troublesome materials as a first-time director, and for the inarguable choice to forged June Squibb. However the weight of the subject material is at odds with the movie’s total tone and aesthetic, plus there are different elements of the story – like whether or not Eleanor can rightly be left on her personal – which might be glossed over. ‘Eleanor the Nice’ has its moments, and may even produce some laughs or a lump within the throat, however nice it’s not.
‘Eleanor the Nice’ receives a rating of 65 out of 100.
June Squibb as Eleanor in ‘Eleanor the Nice’ Picture: Anne Joyce. Courtesy of Sony Photos Classics.
What’s the plot of ‘Eleanor the Nice’?
Witty and troublesome 94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein strikes from Florida to New York Metropolis following a devastating loss. She quickly tells a story that takes on a harmful lifetime of its personal, whereas befriending a 19-year-old journalism pupil.
Who’s within the forged of ‘Eleanor the Nice’?
- June Squibb as Eleanor Morgenstein
- Erin Kellyman as Nina
- Jessica Hecht as Lisa
- Chiwetel Ejiofor as Roger
- Rita Zohar as Bessie
- Will Worth as Max
(L to R) Scarlett Johansson and June Squibb on the set of ‘Eleanor the Nice’ Picture: Anne Joyce. Courtesy of Sony Photos Classics.