Please note: This was screened in
For LFF 2026’s curtain call, writer-director Jesse Eisenberg delivers a rapturous and raucously funny love letter to community theatre, featuring a luminous lead performance by Julianne Moore.
Quiet housewife Mona has become a supporting role in her own life; her husband barely acknowledges her presence and their children are on the cusp of fleeing the nest. So when, on an impulse, she auditions for a local production of an original musical, Mona suddenly finds herself in the spotlight when she is cast in a leading role, as Miss Danielle.
However, she is unprepared for the theatrical hurricane that is Jerry, her enigmatic director and the ‘biggest name in New Jersey community theatre’. As she continues to be creatively pushed by him, Mona finds herself going to extreme lengths to unlock her character.
The Debut once again finds the perfect balance between humour and drama that Eisenberg delivered with his previous films A Real Pain and When You Finish Saving the World.
