Jesse Eisenberg’s surreal, big-hearted comedy stars Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti in a delightful story about artistic ambition, late-life reinvention and the power of community theatre.
Jesse Eisenberg’s third directorial feature film The Debut played at this year’s Rome Film Fest and is truly a a delight. Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore), stars in a one of her most deservedly luminous roles as a repressed housewife who auditions for a local theatre production of the musical Nosy Neighbors. Under the tutelage of Jerry (Paul Giamatti), a outwardly cantankerous, secretly warm hearted former-actor-turned-director, Mona undergoes the rollercoaster of a midlife crisis and coming of age bloom all at the same time.
Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti starring side by side is even more wonderful than it sounds. Their chemistry is utterly divine, their scenes together a joy to watch. Giamatti is perfectly cast as the world-weary theatre director who becomes increasingly invested in the potential he sees in Mona, while Moore throws herself into her character’s transformation.
Eisenberg’s trademark awkwardness, self-deprecation and sharp witticisms ground what could otherwise lean too far over the corny line. Yes, The Debut is undoubtedly cheesy, romantic and unexpectedly sweet, but Eisenberg never loses his intellectual irony. There are shades of Charlie Kaufman in its absurdist sensibility, and even a little David Lynch in the shadowy, disorientating world Mona ventures into as her obsession with acting takes hold. But Eisenberg makes these influences his own, balancing the film’s more outlandish impulses with a genuine affection for the ridiculousness of wanting to make art, be an actor, or sing on stage.
Moore brings a performance worthy of Cate Blanchett’s Blue Jasmine or Gloria Swanson’s Sunset Boulevard in her own woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
The Debut is a film about the possibility of becoming someone else – or perhaps, for the first time, becoming yourself. I loved it.
The 21st edition of the Rome Film Fest is running from October 13th to 25th, 2026.
