We are not sure what came first in this equation, Double Oscar Actress Nominee Scarlett Johnson, making her film directing debut, or Oscar Actress Nominee 95-year-old June Squibb making her first starring role, but the combination made for sheer movie magic 

Miss Squibb plays Eleanor Morganstein, a high-spirited widow who lives in Florida and shares an apartment with her lifelong best friend, Bessie Stern (Rita Zohar).  They are both Jewish, but unlike the US-born Eleanor, Bessie is a Holocaust survivor who is tormented by the horrifying experience, by the memory of her beloved brother who did not survive, and also by the fact that she has never experienced even the partial catharsis of telling her story publicly, having only told Eleanor. However, Bessie dies, so Eleanor packs up and moves in with her harassed, divorced daughter Lisa (Jessica Hecht) and grandson (Will Price).  

They live in a very small, cramped apartment in Manhattan, which doesn’t actually help the strained relationship between mother and daughter, so Eleanor joins a Jewish seniors’ social group in the city.  Halfway through the first meeting, she discovers that it is specifically for Holocaust survivors, but as she is keen to fit in and really needs the comopanionship of her peers,  she pretends to be a survivor, recycling Bessie’s memories and telling herself she’s honouring Bessie’s memory.

Its not just Eleanor who is dealing with both grief, lonliness  and belonging as she befriends Nina (Erin Kellyman) a young journalist student who lives with her father  (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who refuses to acknowledge/talk about Nina’s mlother who died prematurely a few months ago.  Eleanor and Nina make for an unlikely pair  of friends, but as the story unwinds some how their friendship is exactly what both of them need.

The camera loves Miss Squibb, as we do too, in this role that is so very perfect for her, and is a trumphant climax for her long and wonderful career.