Anne Hathaway delivers one of her most magnetic screen performances in years in Eileen, a 2023 psychological thriller that arrived with strong reviews but almost no audience, according to SlashFilm. Directed by William Oldroyd and adapted from Ottessa Moshfegh's 2015 novel, the film holds an 81 percent "certified fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes yet grossed only $1.8 million during its December theatrical run.
A Psychological Thriller That Missed Its Audience
The movie premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival to warm critical reception. /Film critic Ben Pearson called it "disturbing, stylish, and sexy" and named it the first great movie of 2023. The Chicago Reader's Maxwell Rabb described Oldroyd's direction as a "triumphant" and "rousing directorial success." Despite the acclaim, Eileen slipped through the cracks commercially, later earning a spot on /Film's year-end list as "the best movie no one else saw."
From Award-Winning Novel to Screen
Moshfegh's source novel won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a finalist for both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The author, later known for the TikTok-viral My Year of Rest and Relaxation, co-wrote the screenplay with her husband, Luke Goebel. Moshfegh told Entertainment Weekly in 2022 that the first cut of the film was "so much better than my book," a rare endorsement from a novelist protective of her work.
Hathaway and McKenzie Lead a Tense Two-Hander
Set in 1964 Massachusetts, the story follows Eileen Dunlop (Thomasin McKenzie), a repressed secretary at a youth correctional facility who lives with her alcoholic, emotionally abusive father. Her routine fractures when Dr. Rebecca St. John (Hathaway) arrives as the facility's new counselor. Hathaway plays the role as a radiant, darkly alluring femme fatale whose attention awakens dangerous impulses in Eileen. The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey highlighted how McKenzie "plays off the film's inciting spark, a blonde-bobbed enigma played by Anne Hathaway," while the Observer's Wendy Ide, though lukewarm on the film overall, called Hathaway "magnetic."
Oldroyd's Follow-Up to Lady Macbeth
British director William Oldroyd made his feature debut with 2016's Lady Macbeth, which launched Florence Pugh. Between that film and his recent work on the Netflix miniseries His & Hers, Oldroyd directed and produced Eileen, preserving the novel's claustrophobic tension and period detail. Moshfegh reportedly approved of his handling of the material.
Why It Matters for Viewers Now
For audiences disappointed by Hathaway's recent adaptation of Colleen Hoover's Verity, Eileen represents a sharply written, well-acted alternative that rewards patience with psychological depth. The film is currently available to rent or purchase on major digital platforms, offering a low-barrier entry to a thriller that critics agree deserved a wider audience. Its quiet disappearance from the cultural conversation says more about theatrical distribution challenges for adult-skewing dramas than about the film's quality.