Eleanor the Great | Film Review

After the death of her best friend, Eleanor (June Squibb) moves to New York. Desperate for community, she accidentally tells a lie that spirals out of control.

I had been looking forward to seeing this film for such a long time. When I first saw the trailer I thought that it looked like such an interesting concept that could really pack a punch if it was done in the right way.

I liked the film, but unfortunately it didn't pack the punch that I needed it to.

It started in a great way. We get to know Eleanor really quickly, which is essential for a movie like this where we have to sympathise with her for it to work.

The plot is genuinely insane, and I had a hard time working out whether or not it was in bad taste. I still don't really know, but an argument could definitely be made that it is.

The cast is absolutely the best thing about the film, and they're all great. In particular, June Squibb is phenomenal in the role, but Erin Kellyman is almost equally fantastic, and is the character that the audience really grows to love.

Such beautiful relationships are created throughout the film, in a way that feels really authentic.

There's something so tragically heart-breaking about the movie - there are so many hidden and upfront traumas that you end up just feeling incredibly sorry for almost all of the characters.

It keeps you on edge because things are almost constantly on the edge of imploding, and the tension is created well.

I found it extremely engaging. However I felt about the story or characters, I was completely locked in for the entire runtime.

Having said that, I would have loved more of a focus on the father/daughter angle. it isn't developed enough and by the end it feels like the real issues haven't been explored at all.

In fact, the entire film needed more development. Most of the best ideas sit on the surface, and it would have been great if we had been able to go a bit deeper into everything.

I also think the runtime was too short to really explore all of the necessary aspects of a movie with these themes.

So overall, I did like the film, but it needed a lot more development for me. The characters were great, but if we had gone deeper into them, this could have been a brilliant movie.

6.5/10