You’ve probably seen the thumbnails popping up. A 95-year-old woman looking feisty in a New York City deli, or Scarlett Johansson standing behind a camera lens instead of in front of it. There’s a specific kind of buzz around Eleanor the Great videos right now, and honestly, it’s not just because a Marvel superstar decided to try her hand at directing.
It’s the story. Or rather, the lie at the center of the story.
If you just watch the trailers, you might think you’re getting a "Golden Girls" reboot or a quirky "old person finds themselves" indie flick. But this movie—originally titled Eleanor, Invisible—is a lot darker and more ethically messy than the 30-second clips let on.
Why the Trailers for Eleanor the Great Are Decidedly Misleading
The official Eleanor the Great videos and trailers do a great job of highlighting June Squibb’s comedic timing. She plays Eleanor Morgenstein, a 94-year-old who moves from the sunny boredom of Florida to the chaotic energy of New York after her best friend Bessie dies. The clips show her being "bossy, dismissive, and opinionated," as Johansson herself described the character.
But here is what the marketing sorta glosses over: the central conflict is a massive, uncomfortable deception.
Eleanor accidentally wanders into a support group for Holocaust survivors at a local Jewish Community Center. Instead of saying, "Oops, wrong room," she stays. She starts telling Bessie’s survival stories—harrowing accounts of Nazi-occupied Poland—as if they were her own.
It’s a "labor of love" for her dead friend, sure, but it’s also a deeply problematic way to find a sense of belonging. When you watch the behind-the-scenes interviews, you see Johansson talking about "morally murky waters." This isn’t just a feel-good movie. It’s a character study about how grief can make you do things that are, frankly, kind of unforgivable.
Behind the Scenes: Scarlett Johansson’s Move to the Director’s Chair
A lot of the Eleanor the Great videos currently circulating on YouTube are interviews from the 2025 Cannes Film Festival or the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Johansson has been pretty open about the fact that she’s wanted to do this for years. She’s worked with the best—Christopher Nolan, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola—and she basically treated those sets like a decades-long film school.
- The Struggle for Funding: Even with a name like Scarlett Johansson, getting this made was a nightmare.
- The Original Script: Tory Kamen wrote this eight years ago. Nobody wanted to touch an indie drama about a 94-year-old lead.
- The Controversy: Johansson revealed in a PBS News interview that one potential financier actually asked her to remove the Holocaust plot point to make it "more commercial." She refused.
The footage of the production shows a very intimate, minimalist style. They used a lot of natural light and tight close-ups on the actors' faces. Johansson has said she wanted to be "inside their minds," which explains why the film feels so claustrophobic and intense during the scenes where the lie starts to unravel.
📖 Related: The Married by Christmas Movie Cast: Why That 2016 Rom-Com Still Hits Different
The Cast That Makes the "Great" Part Real
If you’ve seen the clips of June Squibb, you know she’s the soul of the film. At 94 during filming, she was doing her own stunts (well, the "walking fast through Manhattan" kind of stunts).
June Squibb as Eleanor
She isn't playing a sweet grandma. She’s playing a "firecracker" who burns the people closest to her. Her performance is the reason the film works; she makes a character who is essentially "stealing" a tragedy feel humanly desperate rather than just a villain.
Erin Kellyman as Nina
You might recognize her from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. She plays Nina, a journalism student who befriends Eleanor and accidentally helps the lie go viral. Their chemistry in the promotional videos is what really anchors the emotional stakes. Nina is grieving her own mother, and she clings to Eleanor’s fake story as a way to process her own pain.
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Roger
He plays Nina’s father, a news anchor who broadcasts Eleanor’s "survivor testimony" to the world. This is where the movie turns from a quiet drama into a full-blown public scandal.
Fact-Checking the History Behind the Film
One thing that makes the Eleanor the Great videos and the movie itself feel so authentic is the involvement of the USC Shoah Foundation.
Johansson didn't just wing it with the Holocaust elements. She cast real survivors for the support group scenes. One of them, Sami Steigmann, has been a vocal part of the film's press tour. There’s a scene in the trailer where Eleanor (as Bessie) describes jumping off a moving train to escape the Nazis. That's a real story. It’s a heavy weight to put in a "comedy-drama," and the film explores whether Eleanor has the right to carry that weight at all.
How to Watch and What to Look For
If you’re hunting for Eleanor the Great videos, start with the "Scarlett's New York" featurette. It shows how they filmed on location to capture a city that feels lived-in, not a postcard version.
The movie hit theaters on September 26, 2025, through Sony Pictures Classics. If you’re watching it now on streaming or VOD, keep an eye on the "unraveling" scene—the moment Eleanor’s daughter Lisa (played by Jessica Hecht) finally realizes what her mother has been doing. It’s one of the most brutal pieces of acting in the whole film.
Actionable Insights for Viewers and Aspiring Filmmakers
- Look for the "Invisible" Motif: Pay attention to how the camera ignores Eleanor in the beginning vs. how it stalks her once she starts lying. It’s a visual representation of her need to be seen.
- Research the Source Material: While the movie isn't a "true story" in the literal sense, the survivor testimonies Eleanor uses are based on real historical accounts documented by the Shoah Foundation.
- Study the Directing Style: If you're a film student, watch how Johansson uses "minimalist creation." She avoids the "Avenger-style" CGI and focuses entirely on the nuance of a furrowed brow.
- Check the Reviews: Don't just take the marketing at face value. Critics at Roger Ebert and Plugged In have noted that the film absolves Eleanor quite quickly for her deception, which has sparked a lot of debate about the ethics of the ending.
The most important thing to remember is that this isn't just a movie about an old woman in New York. It’s a film about the "dangerous life" stories take on once we tell them. Whether you think Eleanor is a hero for honoring her friend or a liar for co-opting a genocide, it’s a conversation that the film—and the videos surrounding it—is clearly meant to trigger.