Eleanor the Great

Eleanor the Great (USA, 2025), directed by Scarlett Johansson in her directorial debut and written by Tory Kamen, is a thoughtful comedy-drama centered on 94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein. After the death of her lifelong best friend, Eleanor leaves Florida for New York to live with her daughter and grandson, where she grapples with grief, loneliness, and the challenge of redefining belonging in very late life. A chance misunderstanding leads her to a Holocaust survivors’ support group, where she begins recounting her late friend’s harrowing experiences as if they were her own. What follows is an unexpected intergenerational friendship with a young journalism student and a series of emotional reckonings about memory, identity, truth, and forgiveness.

But is Eleanor the Great a strong gerontological film?

First and foremost, June Squibb—who at 96 embodies Eleanor with extraordinary vitality—is a triumph. Squibb continues to defy ageist assumptions, demonstrating once again that advanced age does not diminish artistic power or screen presence. Many will remember her memorable roles in About Schmidt (2002) and Nebraska (2013), and more recently in Thelma. Watching Squibb is, in itself, a gerontological pleasure: she brings complexity, humor, vulnerability, and sharp timing to a character navigating the emotional terrain of advanced old age.

I must acknowledge a personal perspective here. As the child of a Holocaust survivor, I cannot claim full objectivity. Today, Holocaust survivors are themselves older adults, and films that center their stories inevitably intersect with gerontology. What struck me about Eleanor the Great is its gentle, intergenerational approach to this historical trauma. The film avoids melodrama and excessive sentimentality, instead framing the Holocaust not only as historical memory but as living memory carried into advanced age.

Overall, I consider Eleanor the Great an excellent contribution to gerontological cinema. It opens meaningful conversations about aging Holocaust survivors, the psychological and social dimensions of late-life identity, the value of intergenerational relationships, and the persistent presence of ageism. Importantly, it also portrays old age as a stage of continued moral complexity, agency, and transformation.

This is a film worth seeing—and worth discussing.

USA

2025

Director: Scarlett Johansson

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ6l2ue--KA