‘The Great Lillian Hall’ reviews: Jessica Lange’s performance should ‘send chills down the spines’ of Emmy competition
On May 31, 2024, “The Great Lillian Hall” premiered on HBO to predominantly positive reviews from critics. In the film, Oscar, Emmy and Tony winner Jessica Lange plays the titular character, a Broadway star battling dementia as she prepares for a big role on the Great White Way. The movie reunites Lange with her “American Horror Story” co-stars Kathy Bates and Lily Rabe, who play Lillian’s assistant and daughter, respectively. Pierce Brosnan and Jesse Williams also star.
The HBO movie is loosely inspired by actress Marian Seldes, who was the aunt of the film’s screenwriter, Elisabeth Seldes Annacone. Michael Cristofer directed the movie for HBO Films. Read our full review round-up below.
Caryn James of The Hollywood Reporter writes, “Jessica Lange is perfection as the fictional actress Lillian Hall, known for decades as a revered star of the theater. During rehearsals for her starring role in ‘The Cherry Orchard,’ she is having unusual difficulty memorizing her lines, and before long learns that the cause is early dementia. Despite that ominous theme, ‘The Great Lillian Hall’ is a lovely tribute to life in the theater, with all its personal compromises, and a showcase for Lange, who deftly shows the character as a vulnerable woman and also displays the distinct style of Lillian the bravura actress.”
Pete Hammond of Deadline notes, “The strength here is that Lange never goes the easy route with this portrayal. She really imbues her with the sense of disbelief this could be happening to the great Lillian Hall, who seems to be a person not aware of life’s clock ticking.” Concluding, “Premiering on HBO May 31, just barely under the wire for Emmy consideration, Lange’s performance as a stage legend facing dementia should send chills down the spine of any other contenders for Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie this season. This veteran star simply knocks it out of the park. Lange herself is coincidentally currently trodding the boards on Broadway in ‘Mother Play,’ another great showcase for her talents that recently won her the NY Drama Critics Award as well as a Tony nomination.”
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Neal Justin of Star Tribune writes, “Her talent is on full display in ‘The Great Lillian Hall,’ a three-hankie drama debuting 7 p.m. Friday on HBO. The fictional Hall is Broadway’s leading lady whose time at the top is threatened by the onset of dementia. The fact that she’s having problems memorizing her lines for a production of ‘The Cherry Orchard’ is only part of her challenge. She realizes all too late in life that her commitment to the theater has come at the cost of relationships with her family and loved ones.”
Elisabeth Vincentelli of New York Times praises the film, stating, “’The Great Lillian Hall’ is not afraid to embrace its classicism; had it been made in the 1940s, it would have starred Bette Davis. Like many of the best golden-age melodramas, this HBO film fully commits to both unabashed emotion and a complicated female lead, a role filled by Jessica Lange with a finely tuned mix of showmanship and nuance. Lange’s Lillian Hall is a theater grande dame playing the charismatic matriarch in a Broadway revival of Chekhov’s ‘The Cherry Orchard.’ Even after some devastating news, Lillian keeps refining her performance, both in life and onstage.”
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