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Ella McCay
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Movie Details
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Videos & Photos
- Trailer 1 (02:24)
Movie Info & Cast
Synopsis
An idealistic young woman juggles her family and work life in a comedy about the people you love and how to survive them.
Cast
- Woody Harrelson
- Jamie Lee Curtis
- Jack Lowden
- Rebecca Hall
- Ayo Edebiri
- Emma Mackey
- Kumail Nanjiani
- Albert Brooks
- Becky Ann Baker
- Julie Kavner
Moviegoers are saying
James L. Brooks' latest divides audiences with its earnest political optimism and relentless sweetness, featuring Emma Mackey as a governor navigating family chaos in a deliberately nostalgic 2008 setting. While some find the constant 'I love you' declarations and forced cuteness insufferable, others praise the authentic character work and Mackey's committed performance in what feels like a screwball comedy filtered through rose-colored glasses.
Top Mentions
Summary generated from the text of Atom User reviews
Letterboxd User Reviews
2.5
35.3K
14.4K
5.9K
- Dec 13, 2025
i’m a neurotic brunette who can’t help but see the best in people of course i ate this up
zoë rose bryantDec 12, 2025Baffling. 50% of all scenes end with characters earnestly saying "i love you" to each other. Set during 2008 for no discernible reason. Emma Mackey's performance like a parody of 1930s Capra. This should've been a novel. The man who made Broadcast News and Terms of…
JakeDec 11, 2025anxious agoraphobic son or girlboss governor daughter
vivdagoat 🍎🍂🐞 - Dec 9, 2025
I love how they had to set this over 15 years ago to incorporate an uplifting message about U.S. politics
Matt MintonDec 13, 2025i like to pretend that they never specify which state she was born in because they’re trying to hide the fact that she’s a republican. she definitely isn’t but it would be funny if that was the reason.
cerysNov 19, 2025there's a line delivery near the end where Albert Brooks falls into the exact cadence of "how do you like that? i buried the lede." and in that moment i was truly happy.
davidehrlich - Dec 11, 2025
I hallucinated this, I think.
Marie BardiNov 19, 2025I saw this movie almost a month ago and the scene between Ayo and Spike Fearn still hasn’t ended. (Also: Someone explain Ella’s scarf to me. Please. I beg you. I can’t stop thinking about the scarf.)
Matt SingerFeb 4, 2026Ella McCay is the rare mainstream movie with a clear political setting, so it makes sense that people get hung up on it (especially with all the nostalgia for the idea of Obama that hangs over it), although if there is politics here, they are very much, like everything else…
Filipe Furtado
Queue Community Reviews
77%
Community 1,322
Top Reviews
- Boogie Astro likedElla McCay
So underappreciated, it's a good movie! It's a real shame that people talked about it online just because it didn't make “enough money” at the theaters..but hey, at least it caught my attention and I added it to my watch list. 🙃
Amina Malone likedElla McCayI saw this early in a feedback screening in the summer and while it’s not bad, it’s nothing new/def a little cliche (which others have said). When I mentioned this they waved me off as too young to understand so idk i guess that’s the effect they wanted 🤷♀️
Wugalicious likedElla McCayOverwritten but charming. Very 2019 in its social justice warrior-everyone says exactly what they mean-women are all ideal and get the best lines aesthetic. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was written around then and was several years in the making.
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Gregory Mitchell is "meh" onElla McCayFar from Brooks’s best. Not that I mind something lighter for a political “comedy/drama” esp compared to something like “Anniversary”, but this was kind of nothing even if I like I lot of the cast
Rick likedElla McCayA Cute Watch. A great cast with quirky characters, and decent performances. A unique story that follows a perfect three act formula. It’s entertaining and nice to watch.
Mark Bateman likedElla McCay7/10 A lighthearted broken family film with a political outlook and values added at the end. It’s deep, meaningful and enjoyable. Recommend.
- Idk23 lovedElla McCay
LOVED!! Honestly want a second where she’s with Trooper I’d like to see them together it was cute and I just need more😭
Claire Marshall dislikedElla McCayThe script lacked a driving force, the characters felt unreal and I wasn’t sure why I was supposed to care about them….
Lou Lou dislikedElla McCayDid ChatGPT write the script? Dialogue was giving the vibe of a computer trying to express human emotions and failing.
Atom User Reviews
POPULAR TAGS
#great
#slow
#lovestory
#notmyfave
Verified Review
No plot. No purpose. Disappointing.
PL
Peggy L
Verified Review
There was no point to this movie. Zero.
PC
Portia C
Metacritic
Dec 19, 2025
It’s that stealthy sense of guilt that turns Ella McCay into a rich, if often bewildering, document for me. Yes, it’s the kind of movie Hollywood doesn’t make much of anymore, but honestly, even back in the day, the industry rarely ever pushed out something this delightfully weird.
David Sims
The Atlantic
Dec 15, 2025
Ella McCay is gas-leak cinema at its finest, which is to say that there is a naïve purity to its unhinged qualities that is almost charming.
Alison Willmore
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Dec 15, 2025
Ella McCay has some fine moments but getting to those little gold nuggets requires a lot of tedious sifting through the sand.
Keith Phipps
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