Eleanor the Great, rated PG-13
****

Eleanor the Great is a powerful film about the importance of friendship in our lives. The film is directed by two-time Oscar nominee (Marriage Story, Jojo Rabbit), Scarlett Johansson in her directorial debut. It was written by Tory Kamen.
Eleanor Morgenstein, played by Oscar nominee June Squibb (Nebraska), is a 94-year-old woman living in Florida with her good friend and fellow widow Bessie Stern, played by Rita Zohar. Eleanor listens as Bessie recounts the horrors of surviving the Holocaust. When Bessie suddenly dies, Eleanor moves back to New York to live with her daughter Lisa, played by Emmy nominee Jessica Hecht (Special), and grandson Max, played by Will Price.
Eleanor is immediately seen as a burden by her daughter, who quickly looks for a place for her mother to move to. In the meantime, she tries to find things for Eleanor to do during the day.

***SPOILER ALERT***
Eleanor ends up sitting in a support group for Holocaust survivors, which she is not, but she begins telling Bessie’s story as if it were hers. Nina Davis, played by Erin Kellyman, is a nineteen-year-old college journalism student at New York University, doing research on Holocaust survivors. She lives with her father Roger Davis, played by Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), a popular news anchor. Both are grieving over their mother/wife’s death six months ago.
Although Eleanor initially rejects Nina’s request for an interview about her experience as a Holocaust survivor, she eventually agrees, and the two develop a close bond. This helps both of them – Nina as she is grieving the loss of her mother, and Eleanor who is grieving the loss of her good friend Bessie.
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The film deals with the weighty themes of aging, loneliness, lies, suffering, Jewish identity, grief, and ultimately the importance of friendship. Squibb delivers a potentially Oscar-worthy performance as Eleanor. Zohar was excellent as Bessie, and Kellyman delivered a strong performance as Nina.