Eleanor the Great is a patient, honest look at grief

Eleanor the Grant had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 8, 2025. Canadian release date September 26, 2025. “Scarlett Johansson’s Eleanor the Great is a patient, honest look at grief.”

Eleanor the Great is Scarlett Johansson’s first film as a director. She chooses a quiet story about grief. The focus stays on one woman trying to live after loss.

Eleanor, an older woman, loses her lifelong friend, who was also a Holocaust survivor. The loss pulls the floor out from under her. She leaves Florida and returns to New York, hoping to find comfort in family and familiar streets. Instead, she drifts. Memory and absence sit with her in every scene.

Making new friends at ninety proves difficult. Longing for connection, Eleanor befriends a 19-year-old student who brings light but not stability. At the Holocaust survivors’ support group, she meets Nina, who is facing the death of her mother. Nina’s father handles grief by pretending it is not happening. Three people, three different ways of carrying loss. These relationships give the story shape and show how grief looks different for everyone.

The story sharpens when Eleanor’s place in the survivors’ group turns into a lie with serious consequences. Her need for belonging outweighs honesty. The decision complicates her grief instead of easing it.

Johansson directs with restraint. She does not reach for big moments. The story is about how grief touches daily life. Eating breakfast alone. Walking through a street that holds old memories. Sitting in silence. Eleanor never explains her pain. You see it in her pauses and in the way she resists change.

The supporting cast adds weight. Family members want to help but do not know how. The new friendships test Eleanor, sometimes giving comfort and sometimes exposing her loneliness. These tensions make the film feel true. Grief is not something solved. It is something carried.

Johansson lets scenes play without rushing. The camera lingers on Eleanor’s face, giving you time to sit with her. The slowness mirrors how grief moves. Nothing neat. Nothing quick.

Eleanor’s journey is not about closure. It is about learning to live with pain and still move forward. Eleanor the Great is a quiet but strong debut. It respects grief and honours the strength needed to face another day.

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