CFF: The Debut

Everyone is talking about Julianne Moore's astonishing performance as Mona, a meek, middle-aged housewife who auditions for a local musical production, despite her zero stage experience, in Jesse Eisenberg's follow-up to A Real Pain, The Debut.

Fresh off the autumn festivals, the film boasts a brilliant Paul Giamatti as Jerry, the “biggest name in New Jersey community theatre.”

As he works to shake her out of her self-conscious shell, questions arise about where vision ends — and sadism begins. Meanwhile, as Mona comes to fully inhabit her character, she grows increasingly untethered from reality.

The Cambridge Film Festival is presented by the Cambridge Film Trust, a registered charity widening access to cinema and supporting emerging talent through film, education and community programmes.