Nerdly » ‘Ella McCay’ Review

15th Dec2025

‘Ella McCay’ Review

by Henry Godfrey-Evans

Stars: Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson, Kumail Nanjiani, Spike Fearn, Ayo Edebiri, Jack Lowden, Albert Brooks, Rebecca Hall | Written and Directed by James L. Brooks

Watch the star of Netflix’s high school drama, Sex Education, prove why she’ll be sticking around for the next few decades.

A sharp, fiercely intelligent woman with a heart of gold and a desire to use her promising political career to make a palpable change, that’s Ella McCay, led by Emma Mackey. As is life, sometimes even the most passionate work project must be sidelined when family problems get in the way. Can you be a perfect politician, wife, daughter and sister at the same time? At times, that task presents itself, and the best of us might hold it together for long enough to sustain a 2-hour feature film.

Ella is a child in the opening scene, and we get a glimpse of who she is when she questions her elders. She is clearly cleverer and more moral than the adults around her, which can make her seem abrasive. That sets up the story extremely succinctly. The writer tells the audience to “expect more”.

So there is your character, she probably has an A-grade in all subjects, went to university at age 16, and would kick Mark Twain’s ass at a philosophical debate. In other words, she is fictional perfection. As a portrayal of such a character, Mackey was personable and totally believable, and she shepherded the plot forward EFFORTLESSLY. Furthermore, her relationship with Aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) was hilarious and felt equally real.

Yet people have been reviewing this very badly, and, admittedly, I do see problems with the pacing. For those of you who feel alienated by the concept of pacing, it’s quite hard to explain, but it makes EVERYTHING feel slightly off. Every emotional scene feels like it arrived suddenly; you can’t decide which of the plots is the main one, etc. It’s an art form mastered by people paid heaps more than me, but most people will feel it when it’s off.

However, I don’t think this weighs Ella McCay down enough to discredit its qualities. It created some very authentic characters and relationships, and sustained a style of comedy that felt quite fresh. Maybe some of the plot conflict felt a little unearned and dumbed down, but we tend to forgive Marvel for much worse.

22% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes enjoyed this film, which I don’t understand at all. Perhaps they butchered the US political system for plot convenience? It was telling that even I understood what was going on.

Ella McCay might be one of the films we see in big-screen compilations when Emma Mackey ends up winning an Oscar. It’s the best performance I’ve seen from her, and I’m a sucker for films with top, top performances.