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
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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