Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut stars the inimitable June Squibb as an elderly New Yorker who strikes up a friendship with a 19-year-old student.
Through a misunderstanding, Eleanor wanders into a support group for Holocaust survivors, where she recounts the story of her recently-deceased friend Bessie’s survival story as if it were her own. Soon, her lie begins to unravel with challenging consequences.
Johansson first expressed a desire to direct whilst observing Robert Redford on set of The Horse Whisperer, when she was 12. Impressed by Eleanor the Great’s script, penned by Tory Kamen in her own feature film debut, Johansson made the film as a passion project. The result is a charming, surprisingly funny and deeply moving character study, examining aging, grief and Jewish identity.
