Julianne Moore has already wrapped up the Oscar race…
film review
THE DEBUT
Running time: 105 minutes. Rated R (transient drug use, some sexual references, and language). In theaters Dec. 11.
From the very first minute, it’s sure Jesse Eisenberg’s movie “The Debut” goes to be utterly bonkers.
Mona, a meek however intense New Jersey housewife performed by Julianne Moore like she’s just ripped off a straitjacket, auditions for a supporting position in a musical at her local community theater.
Sounds regular sufficient? Well, she loses the half to Bernadette Peters.
Exactly what sort of non-professional theater company is this? Yes, Peters performs Serena Cherry, a bigshot beginner, however she certain sings like she’s gained two Tonys.
That surreal cameo from Broadway royalty instantly establishes the No. 1 rule of Eisenberg’s third feature as a author and director, which is displaying at the Toronto International Film Festival: There aren’t any guidelines and there’s even less actuality.
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Sometimes dazzling, sometimes puzzling, always ridiculous, “The Debut” is a song-and-dance fever dream that may very well be the wacko love youngster of “Waiting for Guffman” and “Black Swan.” There’s inside-baseball present people humor and a psychological breakdown. It’s capital-W Weird.
Julianne Moore stars in “The Debut.” Courtesy of TIFF
More than something, the film is an excuse for Moore, who Eisenberg wrote the position for, to go loco. The risk-taking actress excels at that: “May December,” “Savage Grace,” “Boogie Nights,” heck, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle.” But you’ve never seen her be as full-bore demented as she is right here. I used to be frankly nervous for her sanity. The result of Moore’s virtually pathological dedication to this annoyed suburbanite at a crossroads is some of her best work in a very long time.
Fortunately (or maybe not) for Mona, Peters’ Serena takes a job in New York City and drops out of the present. Mona, it turns out, was the only other particular person to audition. So, she is requested to play Miss Danielle, an residence superintendent with a reputation like a second grade instructor’s.
The fearsome director of the present called “Nosy Neighbors” — Eisenberg wrote all the songs, which border on parody — is Jerry, a jackass perfectionist performed by Paul Giamatti. If Moore’s speciality is loons, Giamatti’s is jerks.
Julianne Moore attends the premiere of “The Debut” during the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. ZUMAPRESS.com
Mona’s castmates — Stef (Halle Bailey from “Little Mermaid”), Zachary (Colton Ryan) and Trish (Tony Award winner Bonnie Milligan) — revere haughty and pretentious Jerry like a pharaoh, however warn her that he’s “going to drag you through the s–t and the mud.”
Indeed, Jerry’s tactic with mousy Mona is to crush her to be able to squeeze out a better performance. With totalitarian cruelty, he obsesses over how she delivers a little bit line: “The rent’s due.”
And in the film’s most memorable scene, a one-on-one after-hours rehearsal that spins out of management, he pushes her and pushes her until she snaps. To our utter delight. That’s when Jerry — and Mona — understand she’s received it.
“The Debut,” starring Moore and Paul Giamatti, is the third feature for Jesse Eisenberg. Getty Images
Inspired, Mona devotes herself completely to Miss Danielle, like a New Jersey Daniel Day Lewis, shoving apart her husband and son who couldn’t care less what she does exterior the house.
By now, Eisenberg’s movie is out of its thoughts. Mona dyes her hair black and provides herself a Liza Minnelli pixie reduce. Preferring her artsy new interest to the monotony of motherhood, she discovers herself at the theater, just as Zac Efron did in “High School Musical,” besides Mona coming out of her shell doesn’t transfer us or make us really feel something in any respect. This is an outlandish film that’s more enjoyable than it’s deep.
Considering this is Eisenberg’s followup to the heartbreaking “A Real Pain,” that’s a slight bummer. Visually this is miles ahead of his last film, though. Heightened “Debut” is a really, very slick manufacturing.
The entire purpose to see it, though, is the spectacular Moore, who’s so batty as Mona you may’t look away, lest you miss the slightest freaky eyelid twitch.
Her fed-up homemaker character may be new to the highs and lows of the actor’s life, however Moore virtually definitely has a second Oscar in her future.
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