The Debut Review: Julianne Moore Elevates Jesse Eisenberg’s Charming New Comedy [TIFF]

With its mix of laughs and compelling character drama, The Debut plays nicely to a full theater, and makes a great showcase for Julianne Moore.

Published Sep 15, 2026, 11:09 AM EDT

Josh is a film critic and journalist with over nine years of experience in the entertainment industry. Entering the field at just 17 years old, Josh went on to make his own website, The HoloFiles, and social media brand Star Wars Holocron, the most followed Star Wars fan account on Twitter/X.

A member of both the Chicago Indie Critics and the Hollywood Critics Alliance, Josh has covered major industry events including Star Wars Celebration and, most recently, CinemaCon for ScreenRant. His work has appeared in outlets such as Game Rant and Comic Book Resources (CBR), and he has been featured in publications including the BBC and The New York Times.

Jesse Eisenberg has been a mainstay on film and television screens for over two decades, moving comfortably between franchise films and smaller, more intimate projects. In the last few years, however, he's transitioned to working behind the camera as well, first directing When You Finish Saving The World in 2022, followed by 2024's awards darling A Real Pain. The latter film, in particular, showed that Eisenberg was primed to be one of those actors-turned-directors who successfully evolves into an exciting new filmmaking voice.

Naturally, then, there’s quite a bit of buzz surrounding his latest directorial project, The Debut, which screened at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival this week. The film follows Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore), a woman with kids who are now grown up and a husband who pays no attention to her. Disillusioned by her life, she auditions for a supporting role in a local theater production, and the movie follows her story from her audition all the way to her opening night performance. Moore is joined by an impressive cast that also includes Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu, and Eisenberg himself.

The Debut Leans Heavily Into Its Comedy, For Better And For Worse

The Debut is remarkably different from A Real Pain. The latter homed in on the raw emotions related to family and loss, whereas Eisenberg’s latest leans much more into the humor of the story. The Debut is filled with jokes – Mona “smoking” a cigarette (but not lighting it) in order to get into character, her husband’s bathroom habits, and more – making it a real crowd pleaser, best enjoyed in a full theater full of enthusiastic audience members. Nothing quite beats watching a comedy on the big screen, laughing along with the rest of the viewers and experiencing the story as the filmmakers intended.

On the one hand, making The Debut such a laugh-along comedy means that, again, the film is likely to be a hit with audiences. Yet, at the same time, there are some downsides to this approach. The comedy may not work for everyone – it’s a very specific type of humor, and as viewer-friendly as it may be, it’s also not going to be universally successful. That’s the case for any comedy, but it rings especially true for The Debut.

Another negative that stems from this comedic approach is that the film feels almost too silly at times. As a result, some of the emotional impact is dampened. Mona’s family life, for example, is borderline tragic. She disappears for days without her husband even noticing that she’s gone, and her kids are just about grown (moving on to college), meaning they have their attention on other things. That has the potential to be an incredibly sad aspect of the story, and, for the most part, it is – but the comedy does lessen what could be a powerful, gut-wrenching story point.

Julianne Moore Carries The Debut With Her Performance

As the main character, Julianne Moore is in almost every scene of The Debut. Eisenberg has worked with her before, in his directional debut, and he manages to get an even better performance out of the actress in this new film. In fact, Moore gives one of the most defined, convincing turns in her already illustrious career, playing Mona (and, by extension, Mona's character Miss Danielle) with an authenticity that may not be matched this calendar year.

Mona begins as incredibly timid, stuttering over her words and afraid to impose herself in conversations, even when she’s surrounded by friends and family. Paul Giamatti’s Jerry, the play’s director, notices this, and opts to work with Mona to build her confidence as an actor. The two share many great scenes together; one sequence showing Mona pose as a superintendent of a real apartment building is particularly memorable.

Given the standards that Giamatti has held throughout his career, it’s often hard for other actors to stand out in his presence, such is the level of talent he consistently displays. Moore, however, does just that, taking the limelight from Giamatti and perfectly playing Mona's journey from shyness to a confident (almost over-confident) performer.

Ultimately, The Debut arrives in a serviceable area. The movie has some jokes that land (and others that don’t), and a story that audiences are likely to enjoy. Yet, it’s not the funniest of the year, nor is it the most emotional or profound, which makes Eisenberg’s latest directorial effort a perfectly respectable film. It doesn’t hit the same heights as A Real Pain, but he deserves credit for diverting from his last project so starkly, and making a movie that stands on its own.

The Debut screened at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, and is scheduled to release in US theaters on December 11.