Ella McCay (2025 | US | 115 minutes | James L. Brooks)
Ella McCay (Emma Mackey), from the time she had a voice of her own, stood up for the people who wouldn’t or couldn’t stand up for themselves. She’s had a fire inside that pushed her, unfortunately, to become a civil servant, but she seemed to love it… most of the time. Add a husband that had potential but made the decision to walk the other way, a boss who cared more about himself than his constituents or staff, and a father that shouldn’t have become a father. Every man in her life proved over and over that she couldn’t depend on anyone to help her so she just had to help herself.
Not since Broadcast News have I enjoyed a James L. Brooks film so much. The change that I saw in this film, was the perspective. While there were sort of good men and pretty terrible men in Ella’s life, she still stood up on her own two feet and never gave up on making the world a better place. She also didn’t give up on herself, making sure she chose the best path for her own happiness even if it was hard in the moment. She was brave. It was refreshing to see a light-hearted, sweet film that allowed the female protagonist to hold power over her own life and then keep it. That was the shocker and why I enjoyed it so much.
In the last few months, as you can imagine, I’ve watched a ludicrous number of films. Some sweet, some diabolical, some disturbing and some just silly… but too often I saw female characters offer up their self-worth and power to make decisions about their own lives to other people. It’s painful to watch when we should be empowering everyone to own their lives regardless of “gender”. Historically the pattern has always been female characters (and let’s be real, women out in the world too) that hand over control to someone else and it’s heartbreaking. Ella McCay shows us you can do better and still create a great movie, even if it’s just one step forward it makes all the difference. I would even deem this a romcom both in levity and the fact that she loved herself from beginning to end; a true romance.
There are some other performances of note, but Mackey stole the show almost entirely. Kumail Nanjiani was a positive male presence, if small, in the film and Ella’s aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) was there to hug, but consoling wasn’t exactly her thing. Then there’s her brother Casey (Spike Fearn) whose presence wasn’t exactly necessary but maybe the side story was something to distract when Ella’s life got to be too much? Who knows. I’m not sure if the purpose of the film was to throw some shade on the already shady world of politics but with kid gloves so not to ruffle feathers, or as a feminist-leaning portrayal of working women, but either way it made a decent point. Perhaps the shift in perspective from Brooks came after seeing his daughters grow up and make their way through the world, but in that case it should have taken root years ago. Whatever the catalyst, I hope these “romcom” style films he creates keep moving in such a hopeful direction.
Ella McCay arrives in theaters this weekend 12/12