Ella McCay (2025) on Netflix
Lieutenant governor Ella McCay's mentor, Governor Bill Moore, resigns for a cabinet post and hands her the state's top job. Her estranged father Eddie turns up at her aunt Helen's bar.
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- Netflix1.9/5
- IMDb5.2/107,225 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes23%
Trailer
Plot summary
Ella McCay is an ambitious, idealistic politician who serves as her state's lieutenant governor, a post she holds while her party grows impatient with her long speeches and her readiness to act. Her mentor, Governor Bill Moore, accepts a post in the incoming presidential administration and resigns at once, leaving her the rest of his term. At her aunt Helen's bar she encounters Eddie, the estranged father whose affair when she was a teenager upended her family; her mother, Claire, has since died. Eddie claims his girlfriend Olympia urged him to reach out to his children, and Ella refuses him for his absence of remorse. State trooper Nash becomes her driver and bodyguard.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Ella McCay (2025)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Ella McCay was pulled from its French theatrical release after its initial poor reception and sent to Disney+ on February 5, 2026; after backlash and unexpected critical acclaim in France, it got a two-day release in over 100 cinemas in May 2026.
- James L. Brooks's Ella McCay was his first film as writer-director in thirteen years, announced in November 2023, with a cast including Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson and Kumail Nanjiani.
- A poster for Ella McCay inspired an internet meme known as the Ella McCay Challenge, in which people attempt to mimic the pose of the film's main character.
- Julie Kavner, Becky Ann Baker and Joey Brooks were revealed as cast members in March 2025; for Kavner it was her first role in nearly 20 years not associated with The Simpsons, where she voices Marge Simpson.
