‘Eleanor the Great’ beautifully demonstrates coming to terms with loss

By Teagan Warren

Scarlett Johannson, best known for her role as Black Widow in the Marvel Universe, makes her directorial debut with “Eleanor the Great,” a story about a sprightly 94-year-old woman who, after the passing of her best friend Bessie, decides to move to New York City to live with her daughter and grandson.

Eleanor Morgenstein’s sass and jesting nature make the move with her. Her daughter Lisa and her grandson Max love Eleanor, but carry on with their lives, which leaves Eleanor feeling lonely. Lisa signs her up for a class with other elderly individuals, to which an irritated Eleanor responds, “I judged the morgue prematurely. I can see that now.”

Heading to her class, Eleanor runs into a Jewish woman who mistakenly believes that Eleanor has come for the Holocaust survivor support group. Perhaps the sense of community and the opportunity to grieve steered Eleanor to attend and to lie by sharing the story of Bessie, a Holocaust survivor, as her own. A 19-year-old journalism student named Nina observes the meeting and convinces her to tell more of her story, leading to the escalation of the lie and an increased closeness in their relationship.

A surprising feature of the film was how shortly Eleanor seemed to grieve. Although she appears to have moved on quickly, the audience later sees that she has not processed that grief yet, and Eleanor’s lies are used to process that grief. As can often be tempting with grief, Eleanor seeks companionship to fill the hole rather than sharing her authentic experiences.

June Squibb, the actress who performed the role of Eleanor Morgenstein, played a lead role for the first time in 2024’s “Thelma.” It’s exciting to see older actors, particularly actresses, having the opportunity to step into the limelight. In Hollywood, female youth is glorified, so it is encouraging to see that there are creators who want to share the stories of older populations.

June Squibb played the role of Eleanor fantastically. She delivered her lines in the perfect way for this vivacious, quirky and humorous woman. Her scenes with Nina and Max were very enjoyable, partially because the relationship of young adults with elderly individuals is not a relationship often portrayed in films and is underappreciated in society.

 “Eleanor the Great” shows that young people can have good relationships with older adults, even forming friendships with those outside of the family. Additionally, the absence of romantic relationships in this film was appreciated, as they would have distracted from the underrepresented relationships that the film depicts.

As Max’s grandmother prepares a traditional Jewish dinner for her and her grandson, he calls her, letting her know that he forgot about his friend’s band performance that night. He insists he can cancel if she would like, but Eleanor insists he go.

That scene then transitions into Nina knocking on the door, arriving as Eleanor’s alternate dinner guest. The shift of scenes demonstrates that Eleanor seeks to appease her loneliness. The audience will enjoy seeing how the two supported each other. Nina feared talking about her mother, who passed away 6 months ago, because she would always cry. Eleanor assured her that it is good to talk about the things that make us sad. Nina reminds Eleanor likewise when she comes to speak to her journalism class.

Erin Kellyman played the role of Nina beautifully. The scenes of her crying as she grieved the loss of her mother demonstrated the delicate innocence of the young lady. She brought a certain vibrancy to the character in a way that made her feel authentic. A scene in which she and her father talk about their loss for the first time finally brought me to tears.

Before her Bar Mitzvah, Eleanor meets with the rabbi at the local synagogue. He walks her through the story of Jacob and Esau, particularly about how Jacob deceived his father to take Esau’s blessing for his own. Eleanor interrupts, asking whether there were any consequences for Jacob’s lying. The rabbi goes on to say that it seems it would be all right to lie if there are good intentions behind it. This scene demonstrates Eleanor justifying her deceit.

Eleanor feels hesitant about being interviewed when Nina asks, but she soon gets over that. She also feels hesitant about speaking to Nina’s class. By the end, though, the viewer does not sense much guilt about lying. Her lack of conviction made it difficult to believe when Eleanor apologizes, since the audience does not know whether she really understands the seriousness of her actions.

One of the film’s drawbacks was that it was challenging to identify when Eleanor was lying. Since there is no clear presentation of Eleanor’s identity in the beginning, it was difficult to discern truth from lies. The audience was only given random and inconclusive details, which made her character bewildering to understand.

Despite a few drawbacks, this simple film endears itself to audiences with its interesting character dynamics. The characters feel real, even when their actions don’t always make sense. Eleanor and Nina have their quirks, which bring their characters to life. The great love and forgiveness shown in this story leave the audience with a reminder that we can be surprised by who may help us to heal and who we may help to heal.

“Eleanor the Great” is currently playing in select theaters.

Teagan Warren is a senior psychology major. When not panicking about lack of post-graduation plans, you can find her planning a new adventure.

Images courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics and TriStar Pictures.