Ella McCay
20th Century Studios | Release Date: December 12, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
18
Negative:
13

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
RogerEbert.comNell MinowDec 12, 2025
It is a movie of moments. But some of those moments are so good, its optimism is so refreshing, its dialogue so bright, and its characters and performances so endearing, it well rewards a watch. Read full review
75
IndieWireVikram MurthiDec 10, 2025
Watching Ella McCay can sometimes feel like time travel, particularly for those vested in bygone eras of American filmmaking, but if you’re capable of tuning into its wavelength, an old but worthwhile spirit can be found. Read full review
70
SlashfilmBill BriaDec 10, 2025
There is a bittersweetness to be seen in "Ella McCay," as the movie openly wonders whether hope in our political system is as outdated as everything else. This theme may be fully intentional or it may be coincidental, yet it feels heartfelt in either case. Read full review
65
The AtlanticDavid SimsDec 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. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldDec 10, 2025
If Brooks could have mustered up a screenplay half as good as “Broadcast News,” this movie would have been a delight; instead, it disappears into agreeable blandness and earnest platitudes. It’s not at all unpleasant spending two hours with Ella and her family and colleagues, but it leaves you feeling a little nostalgic for what it could have been. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesTara BradyDec 10, 2025
For all that structural uncertainty, Ella McCay is difficult to dislike. It’s old-fashioned and undeniably heartfelt. There’s a compelling sweetness in its rooting for good public service, and a refreshing optimism that feels almost radical in 2025. Read full review
60
Next Best PictureJosh ParhamDec 10, 2025
What makes the film succeed, as much as it can, is that sincere commitment to advocating decency in a chaotic world. It demonstrates this ideology not only through its protagonist’s philanthropic ambition but also in how effortlessly charming these characters can be. Read full review
60
Little White LiesAnna StaffordDec 10, 2025
The film sits somewhere between hope and realism, an ode to public service for an audience whose optimism is running low. Read full review
58
Original-CinJim SlotekDec 11, 2025
The ironic thing about Ella McCay, James L. Brooks’ surprisingly slight politically themed comedy, is that it’s an aggressively feel-good movie that may leave you feeling bad. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleDec 15, 2025
As Ella, Mackey shows that she can carry a movie and remain sympathetic, despite a script that sometimes works against her. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreDec 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. Read full review
50
The New York TimesAlissa WilkinsonDec 11, 2025
Ella McCay is a bizarre movie that would have worked better if it went all-in as an homage to another era. Since we won’t get to see that version, you’ll just have to buckle up and enjoy the very strange ride. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonDec 10, 2025
Emma Mackey gives a heartfelt performance as the titular protagonist, whose marriage is collapsing just as she’s about to be named her state’s new governor, and this comedy-drama contains some of the crackling dialogue and disarming candour of Brooks’ best work. Ultimately, however, this disjointed character study ultimately feels as messy as its heroine’s life. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonDec 10, 2025
Thankfully, Ella McCay is not as bad as its predecessor. Had this film been a total disaster, it would be easier to dismiss. But every so often, there are glints of the James L. Brooks brilliance I loved so much. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Radheyan SimonpillaiDec 10, 2025
Ella McCay, the movie, feels like we’re being bear hugged by a lovable, slightly boozy old grand-uncle who genuinely hopes to find common ground with a new generation, but also can’t help being a little patronizing. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineTaylor WilliamsDec 10, 2025
The optimism that Ella preserves as she takes life one day at a time is compelling enough that it’s hard to get too mad about how shallow the world around her can seem. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubCaroline SiedeDec 10, 2025
It all adds up to a movie that isn’t screwy enough to be a screwball comedy nor deep enough to be a dramedy. Read full review
40
The RevealKeith PhippsDec 15, 2025
Ella McCay has some fine moments but getting to those little gold nuggets requires a lot of tedious sifting through the sand. Read full review
40
StatusBrian LowryDec 12, 2025
James L. Brooks has no creative mountains left to climb, but watching the ill-conceived “Ella McCay” it’s hard not to wish he had quit while he was ahead. Read full review
40
The TimesKevin MaherDec 12, 2025
Mackey is fine but wasted, and still clearly anticipating a role to top her astounding Emily from 2022. The political messaging, meanwhile, is grimly bromidic. Read full review
40
EmpireJohn NugentDec 12, 2025
An odd, messy, misjudged shambles. You can’t fault the earnest tone or the plucky performances, but you can fault almost everything else. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyDec 10, 2025
Anyone nostalgic for the director’s more memorable work might get a kick out of seeing him reunite with past collaborators Kavner and Albert Brooks. But almost everyone here is trying way too hard, with the exception of Mackey, who’s appealing and natural even when stuck in a phony world full of phony characters. Read full review
40
The GuardianAdrian HortonDec 10, 2025
Ella McCay is, first and foremost, a mess – a clunky collection of incoherent characters and confounding plot that seem to defy basic story logic at every turn, and not in a surprising or intriguing way. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshDec 12, 2025
It never feels like Brooks has a grasp on the material here, which careens aimlessly through Ella’s harried day-to-day, in a handsomely bland, serviceable style. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 12, 2025
This well-intentioned dramedy goes wrong right from the start and careens downhill from there. Read full review
35
The Daily BeastNick SchagerDec 10, 2025
Its phoniness epitomized by Emma Mackey’s lead turn, it’s the biggest dud of the artist’s career, and the holiday season’s most egregious misfire. Read full review
32
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiDec 10, 2025
Ella McCay' is a film about American politics in the same way that Pixar’s 'Cars' is a movie about cars. As in yes, these are definitely films about politics and cars. But no, politics and cars don't work like that. Read full review
30
ColliderJeff EwingDec 12, 2025
At the center of this mess sits a set of performances that are, beyond some writing oddities, pretty good. Read full review
30
Screen RantTodd GilchristDec 10, 2025
Ultimately, there are few filmmakers whose work I admire more for its sophistication and undeniable humanity than that of Brooks, but this film isn’t just bad — it’s unbearable. Read full review
25
The Travers TakePeter TraversDec 12, 2025
A low point in the career of the legendary James L. Brooks, starring gifted actors who seem, all of a sudden in a fit of group amnesia, to have forgotten how to act. Read full review
25
Washington PostSonia RaoDec 12, 2025
Brooks, whose storied career includes insightful gems such as “Terms of Endearment” and “Broadcast News,” turns in a halfhearted mess of a movie that spends its entire two-hour running time trying to figure out what it wants to be. Read full review
25
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiDec 10, 2025
In the pantheon of James L. Brooks films, “Ella McCay” is far from as good as it gets. Read full review
25
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckDec 10, 2025
It’s hard to understand how “Ella McCay,” the first original feature from writer-director Brooks in 15 years, goes so utterly haywire. Read full review
25
The PlaylistMarshall ShafferDec 10, 2025
Call it “naïve-core,” perhaps, as the film so thoroughly loses touch with reality by avoiding conflict of any kind. His empty platitudes like “humans help humans” are rendered useless and risible inside a work that seems to lack even a basic understanding of humanity in 2008, 2025, or any time at all. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithDec 11, 2025
Ella McCay is not quotable. It is not believable. It is not likable. It’s not even digestible. For an ordinary filmmaker, it would be merely a disaster. For James L. Brooks, it’s more like a tragedy. Read full review
20
The TelegraphTim RobeyDec 10, 2025
Many good actors here are weirdly bad. Read full review
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