Warning: This article contains mild spoilers for The Debut, coming to movie theaters on December 11.
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article → contain → December
It’s not often that New York Film Festival press audiences—overworked and underpaid film critics who have way too many movies to watch—burst into spontaneous applause, mid-movie.
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who → ’ → applause
But, to my delight, that’s exactly what happened at the Thursday morning NYFF press and industry screening of The Debut, a lively, laugh-out-loud comedy coming to U.S. theaters in December.
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what → ’ → December
And it’s all thanks to a jaw-dropping, expletive-laden, Oscar-worthy outburst from Julianne Moore, in which she absolutely rips Paul Giamatti a new one.
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she → ’ → one
Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg—who is on a roll as a filmmaker after last year’s Oscar-nominated A Real Pain—The Debut takes place vaguely in the ’90s, some time before cell phones, and vaguely in the Midwest, in some small town near St. Louis.
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Debut → write → Louis
Moore stars as Mona, a meek, stay-at-home wife who is not respected by her husband, her kids, or even the shopper who brazenly cuts her in the grocery line.
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who → star → line
Mona auditions for a regional production of Nosy Neighbors, a hysterically cliché fake musical about a New York City apartment building, with original songs written by Eisenberg (one particular-groan worthy lyric: “One bedroom, two hearts”)
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Mona → audition → Eisenberg
Though initially laughed off by the musical’s cutthroat director, Jerry (Giamatti), a last-minute drop-out means Mona lands the part of Miss Danielle, the building super.
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Mona → laugh → Danielle
And Mona’s life is completely transformed.
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life → transform → ?
She doesn’t project.
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She → project → ?
She doesn’t emote.
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She → emote → ?
Worst of all, she doesn’t transform into her character.
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she → transform → character
But with no one else available to play Miss Danielle, Jerry is determined to get Mona to where she needs to be.
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she → play → Mona
About an hour into the film, Jerry holds Mona back after rehearsal—mortifying her by announcing everyone in the cast can go home early, except for Mona—and instructs her convince him, Jerry, to pay his rent.
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everyone → hold → rent
“Am I me, or am I Miss Danielle?” asks Mona, flustered.
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Mona → ask → ?
“You’re Miss Danielle.
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You → ’re → ?
You’re always Miss Danielle,” Jerry bites back, frustration in every word.
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Jerry → ’re → word
At first, Mona timidly asks for the rent.
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Mona → ask → rent
When Jerry asks why he should pay, she responds, simply, that the rent is due.
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rent → ask → ?
Why, Jerry presses.
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Jerry → press → ?
Because she needs to pay the building owner.
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she → need → owner
Because it’s her job.
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it → ’ → ?
Because she needs money for her husband.
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she → need → husband
Because she needs money for herself.
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she → need → herself
Because she needs to eat.
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she → need → ?
Their voices start to crescendo.
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voices → start → ?
They climb to a scream.
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They → climb → scream
And then it’s Oscar-nominee Paul Giamatti and Oscar-winner Julianne Moore going toe-to-toe.
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it → ’ → toe
Full volume, spit flying.
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spit → fly → ?
Two of our best living actors, just absolutely unleashed.
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Two → live → actors
Mona screams that she cant go back to living the street.
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she → scream → street
She screams that she’ll be living under a bridge, eating disease-riddled rats.
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she → scream → rats
She screams that Jerry is nothing more than a pathetic egomaniac, and she’ll fucking gut him if he doesn’t cough up that fucking check.
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he → scream → check
Why should Jerry pay his rent, he asks?
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he → pay → rent
“Because the motherfucking rent is motherfucking due!” Moore screams at the top of her lungs.
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Moore → scream → lungs
Silently, Jerry hands over his rent check.
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Jerry → hand → check
It’s here that the NYFF press audience burst into applause.
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audience → ’ → applause
Can you blame us?
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you → blame → us
It’s the perfect climax—a perfect, cathartic line—to a brilliant build of a scene.
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It → ’ → scene
It’s a moment of pure victory.
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It → ’ → victory
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
