![Film Review: THE DEBUT: Jesse Eisenberg's Look at Method Acting is Absolutely Perfect [NYFF 2026]](https://film-book.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Julianne-Moore-The-Debut-01-1200x675-1-700x394.png "Film Review: The Debut: Jesse Eisenberg's Look At Method Acting Is Absolutely Perfect [nyff 2026]")
The Debut Review
The Debut (2026) Film Review from the 64th Annual New York Film Festival, a movie written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg and starring Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Bernadette Peters, K. Todd Freeman, Eldar Isgandarov, Susan Blommaert, Colton Ryan, Bonnie Milligan, Jesse Eisenberg, Lilli Cooper, Maulik Pancholy, Jared Loftin, Megumi Nakamura, Havana Rose Liu, Ana Yi Puig, Allegra Leguizamo and Patrick Fabian.
Jesse Eisenberg’s hilarious film, The Debut, offers a look inside a community theater production unlike any other. This film is commandeered by Julianne Moore’s fierce, funny and unpredictable turn as a housewife named Mona. When Mona is cast in a local production after a star, Serena Cherry (Bernandette Peters), bows out, it is discovered that Mona doesn’t have much talent as an actress. What Mona does have is a lot of undiscovered passion, and when she unleashes it with the help of the show’s director, Jerry (Paul Giamatti), all bets are off as to which way this community theater production will turn out. That unpredictable nature of the film, itself, is what makes The Debut such a great accomplishment.
Mona is trapped in a marriage to a man who doesn’t seem to care too much about what she does, and that she’s in the new show. Mona’s persistence is what gets her cast, and she’s in it for the win, even if that means turning her back on her family to give the role everything it “needs.” It’s actually just a small role that Mona is playing, though. She’s portraying a superintendent in an apartment building, and her key lines revolve around her character collecting rent from the tenants. Still, Jerry pushes her hard, and Mona eventually loses it and immerses herself in the character completely in order to give the part everything she has.
Some of Mona’s choices are flat-out outrageous. She goes to live in a hotel and starts fixing toilets and sinks. She becomes a method actress as if the method was to be as offbeat as possible in terms of discovering the character. One great scene has Jerry pushing Mona extremely hard until she starts spewing off wild dialogue that is absolutely absurd in its excesses. It’s hard not to applaud Mona’s newly discovered passion, no matter how extreme it turns out to be.
The Debut has more on its plate, though. Mona and Jerry begin to form a strong bond as he helps her find her character, but things go off the rails when Mona takes the assignments so seriously that she starts changing the lines in inappropriate ways. Eisenberg (who has a small role in the film)’s script highlights the necessity of actors to play their lines correctly, but toys with that idea to the max, which culminats in a wonderful climax of the movie where anything goes.
Julianna Moore is superb in one of her best performances ever. She immerses herself in playing Mona in a way that almost assures her an Oscar nomination. Mona goes “buck wild” and eventually gets an electric shock that leads her hair to become frizzy, and she becomes something out of a horror movie. She’s ultimately the actress from hell. She’s got talent, but watch out as to how she shapes it!
Giamatti is excellent in his key role opposite Moore. Giamatti is not without meaty scenes either, such when he lets Mona “have it” the night before the show opens. The rapport between Mona and Jerry is hot and cold, but it rings true and is absolutely bonkers to watch. Eisenberg makes these characters so memorable that you may be rooting for both of them individually despite their many flaws. It’s hard to know what we want Mona to say on stage, but the film doesn’t disappoint in terms of what it reveals in its very last moments.
Halle Bailey shines in a supporting role as one of the production’s key stars, Stef, who forms a bond with Mona. Bailey hasn’t been this good, yet, outside of The Little Mermaid, and she shines significantly. It’s also great to see Bernadette Peters working again in her small, but pivotal, role in the film.
The Debut is absolutely amazing in the way the leads, Moore and Giamatti, shape the dynamics of the plot. These are two of the finest working actors and to see them at the top of their game is an exceptional cinematic experience.
More must be said of Julianne Moore. She’s done some great work before this role, of course, but this may be her career-crowning performance. She’s playing a role she’s played before in movies like The Hours (a housewife), but instead of re-playing the part, she’s taking it to new heights here. Eisenberg is a genius for making such a sharp, biting movie that pretty much anyone will enjoy – theatre fan or not. The Debut is simply a masterpiece.
Rating: 10/10
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