Movie Number 25 of 2025
The Movie: The Great Lillian Hall
The Theatre: Hoyts Victoria Gardens
Runtime: One hour 50
Stars:4+
Dementia is an absolute bastard. It's especially terrible when it takes away your life's purpose, which is where acclaimed actress Lillian Hall (Jessica Lange) finds herself as she embarks on a season of The Cherry Orchard on Broadway.
Lillian has never missed a show. Lillian is known for her professionalism. And Lillian is starting to lose it.
This is the premise of the film.
When we meet Lillian she's going into the final rehearsals, where she's flailing. The director David (Jesse Williams) is being as patient as he can. The backer, Jane (Cindy Hogan) wants to get in the understudy. The cast are being as calm as they can be, and her assistant Enid (Kathy Bates) and her daughter Margaret (Lily Rabe) are noticing more and more that her boss is acting irrationally. Her neighbour, Ty (Pierce Brosnan) watches on with mild sympathy and amusement. Some of these scenes are some of the most charming in the film.
After a fall onstage, Lillian is sent to see a doctor, where she's diagnosed with dementia, the condition which will slowly take her life.
And so, within the hour and fifty minutes of this film, we watch as Lillian fights, negotiates and works through what is going to be her swan song.
As a lover of the theatre, I really appreciated this film, watching as the cast prepare with an increasingly unreliable star. Elizabeth Seldes Annacone has developed a fantastic script, weaving in the script of The Cherry Orchard with the inevitable sunset of a once great star. Michael Csristofer's direction is solid, bringing in the beauty of New York, the cutthroat and mercurial nature of the theatre and the fragility of age and making a very watchable, and unfortunately relatable film. Dementia really is a bastard.
This is Jessica Lange's film. She's incendiary. Every scene, every moment is considered as she tries to come to terms with her situation, wanting to complete her passage on the stage, but knowing that this may not be possible. Kathy Bates is also excellent as her assistant, and in some ways, her enabler. I also loved the fragility found in Lily Rabe's performance as her oft-times overlooked daughter.
I've a feeling I saw this film in an early showing. It's well worth a look, particularly if you're a bit of a theatre nut and like seeing what goes on behind the scenes. It's also worthwhile to see this for Jessica Lange's performance. I have a feeling there could be an Oscar nod here. She's amazing.
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