Movie · 2015 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 18m · R · English
Curator score: 7.8/10 (18.3K ratings)
Overview
Self-described misanthrope Elle Reid has her protective bubble burst when her 18-year-old granddaughter, Sage, shows up needing help. The two of them go on a day-long journey that causes Elle to come to terms with her past and Sage to confront her future.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.8/10
IMDb: 6.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Metacritic: 77
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Paul Weitz
Production
1821 Pictures, Depth of Field
Cast
Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer, Laverne Cox, Elizabeth Peña, Sarah Burns, Colleen Camp, Lauren Tom, Judy Geeson, Frank Collison, Sam Elliott, Carlos Miranda, John Cho, Nat Wolff, Aaron Bilyeu, Mo Zelof, Missy Doty, Don McManus, Willem Miller
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, brisk road movie built around Lily Tomlin’s wonderfully caustic, wounded performance. It mixes abortion-story urgency, queer family history, and generational friction with enough wit and tenderness to feel more lived-in than schematic.
Best for
Viewers who like character-driven dramedies with bite
Fans of queer family stories and women-centered ensemble work
People who enjoy road movies that are funny but emotionally bruised
Anyone interested in a standout late-career performance
Skip if
You want a light, purely feel-good comedy
You’re looking for a plot-heavy movie with big twists
Sensitive abortion subject matter is a dealbreaker
You dislike acerbic dialogue and prickly protagonists
Overview
Grandma is one of those small, talky movies that survives entirely on voice, timing, and the chemistry between its leads. Lily Tomlin plays Elle as a defensive, profane, deeply funny woman whose anger is never just a gimmick; it’s armor. The film keeps moving, but it’s really about the emotional toll of old wounds and the strange grace of being forced to help someone you love.
Worth noting
What makes it work is the balance of bite and vulnerability. The abortion plot gives the day urgency, but the movie is just as interested in the mess of family inheritance: regret, loyalty, shame, and the ways women pass survival strategies down to each other. Julia Garner is excellent as the younger counterpart, and the supporting cast helps the film feel like a lived-in slice of a larger, imperfect world.
Bottom line
It’s not seamless, and some of the writing leans a little too hard on its own cleverness, but the film’s honesty usually wins out. If you like your comedy dry, your drama intimate, and your catharsis earned rather than polished, this is an easy recommendation.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Marian (5★) · 235 likes
me as an angry gay grandma
lou (3.5★) · 228 likes
honestly i love that this film doesn't have a single positive portrayal of a man and what could be more realistic than that?
Ellie ✨ (4.5★) · 187 likes
what happened to the condoms I bought you - DID YOU EAT THEM???
wersku (4★) · 175 likes
What is this, Weitz? An emotionally mature story that isn’t desperately trying to impress anyone. The guy who made American Pie made this? Well, color me surprised with every color in the world.
+70 minutes where none of the razor-sharp but intentionally messy overlapping dialogue ever feels unnecessary. It looks like we have a great car ride ahead of us. The dialogue is the film’s biggest strength, and it’s amplified by our own Grandma, Lily Tomlin, whose chaotic, amusing, slightly… more
Adam Kempenaar (4★) · 134 likes
Oh, the joy of going into movies being almost completely clueless about them.
Lily Tomlin.Paul Weitz. Abortion. Could be a cloying AS GOOD AS IT GETS clone with a crotchety old lady instead of a crotchety, condescending old man.
That's the list. So I get to discover a performance like Sam Elliott's, that completely stuns and thrills me – perhaps unlike any other performance of the year, honestly. The whole Elliott-Tomlin detente is its own self-sufficient drama. Three acts,… more