The Jewish Studies Course 175CNS “Holocaust Memory through the Ages: Memoirs, Memorials, Movies” screens the film “Eleanor The Great.”

Eleanor the Great (2025)
Directed by Scarlett Johansson | United States | 98 min

Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, Eleanor the Great, tells the story of Eleanor Morgenstein (June Squibb), a witty and fiercely independent 94-year-old woman struggling to rebuild her life after the death of her closest friend. Moving from Florida to New York to live with her family, Eleanor finds herself confronting loneliness, grief, and the challenge of finding her place in an unfamiliar chapter of life.

When a misunderstanding leads her into a support group for Holocaust survivors, Eleanor begins sharing the story of her late friend, a survivor, as though it were her own. What starts as an attempt to preserve her friend’s memory gradually takes on a life of its own, drawing her into unexpected relationships and raising difficult questions about truth, remembrance, and the responsibilities that accompany telling stories of the past.

Blending humor and pathos, Eleanor the Great explores themes of aging, friendship, grief, Jewish identity, and memory. Through Eleanor’s unlikely connection with a young journalism student, the film invites audiences to reflect on how personal histories are preserved, shared, and transformed across generations. Both moving and thought-provoking, it offers a compelling meditation on remembrance and the enduring power of storytelling.