Jesse Eisenberg's third directorial venture, following "When You Finish Saving the World" and "A Real Pain," is tentatively titled "No One Cares." Contrary to prevailing rumors, this upcoming film—based on Eisenberg's original script—is not a musical per se. Instead, it's a hilarious comedy set in "the high-stakes world of community theater," starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, with a brief appearance by Eisenberg himself.
The film follows a shy woman (Moore), unexpectedly cast in a local production of an original musical. According to someone who saw a cut of the film that screened at the Cannes market over the weekend, "No One Cares" is "great." It's Julianne Moore as a painfully awkward housewife who has to learn how to act for a musical and then gets way too into it. Giamatti plays the director trying to make her good, but she keeps literalizing everything, leading to a weird, dark, and hilarious spiral about acting, delusion, and community theater freaks.
It's not really a "musical," more a comedy about making one. Eisenberg has a small role as one of the actors, and the cinematography by Drew Daniels is stunning. The score by Emil Mosseri is terrific. Moore is doing one of her best roles in years, but Giamatti steals the show with his killer monologues and a unique blend of warmth and theater tyrant energy. The audience was howling with laughter, making it feel like a cross between Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway" and "Black Swan," but for apartment building theater people.
By the way, Drew Daniels was the cinematographer on Sean Baker's last two films, "Anora" and "Red Rocket."
Eisenberg is coming off the success of "A Real Pain," released in 2024, which earned widespread acclaim and an Oscar for supporting actor Kieran Culkin. Eisenberg was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay. A24 is positioning the film for a fall premiere, potentially at the Telluride Film Festival and then at the Toronto International Film Festival. An Oscar campaign will likely be mounted for all key players involved.
