A24 has released the first trailer for The Debut, Jesse Eisenberg’s third feature film, following Oscar-winning A Real Pain. Eisenberg is set to star in along with the film alongside Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti and Halle Bailey.
Julianne Moore plays Mona Friedman, a meek housewife who is cast in a part for a local community theatre show. Mona has not sung publicly “since church choir”, but manages to land a role in director Jerry’s (Paul Giamatti) production, a domineering and influential name in New Jersey’s community theatre scene.
Mona’s time under the director seemingly turns her from the housewife she is to a method actor who begins to unravel. Eisenberg plays a fellow actor in the group, sharing a scene with Moore’s Mona in the trailer.
At first glance, The Debut feels like another entry to a growing list of films on the topic of obsession within the arts, in a similar vein to Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.
Eisenberg will reunite with Topic Studios and Fruit Trees, producers of A Real Pain and Julianne Moore, who starred in Eisenberg’s directorial debut, When You Finish Saving the World, alongside Finn Wolfhard.
Although the film is slated for an Autumn 2026 release, there is no confirmed UK release date for The Debut.
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