'Eleanor the Great' follows a spiraling lie

Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut sees a woman lose control of a wild deception.

- KATIE WALSH

JUNE SQUIBB'S Eleanor, right, and Erin Kellyman's Nina share a friendship built on an outrageous lie.

(ANNE JOYCE Sony Pictures Classics)

There's precisely one surprising moment in Scarlett Johansson's feature directorial debut “Eleanor the Great,” written by Tory Kamen.

It's the impetus for the entire drama that unfolds in this film, and it feels genuinely risky — a taboo that will be hard for this film to resolve. Yet, everything that unfolds around this moment is entirely predictable.

Also unsurprising? That star June Squibb’s warm, humorous and slightly spiky performance elevates the wobbly material and tentative direction. If Johansson nails anything, it’s in allowing the 95-year-old Squibb to shine in only her second starring role (the first being last year’s action-comedy “Thelma”). For any flaws or faults of “Eleanor the Great” — and there are some — Squibb still might make you cry, even if you don't want to.