Anne Hathaway's Chilling 2023 Thriller Completely Flew Under Everyone's Radar

Anne Hathaway appeared in five movies in 2026, three of which were good. That's a pretty solid ratio, and even the bad films kept her in the public eye. But one film that didn't do much for her profile, yet is arguably just as good as her best 2026 projects, is 2023's "Eileen." This little-known psychological thriller is based on the 2015 novel by Ottessa Moshfegh, who co-wrote the screenplay with her husband, Luke Goebel. Sadly, it flew under everyone's radar, but it's well worth seeking out — especially if you're looking to cleanse the palette after Hathaway's lackluster attempt to adapt Colleen Hoover's "Verity."

Moshfegh is best known for her 2018 novel "My Year of Rest and Relaxation," which gained a boost thanks to its TikTok virality. But prior to that, Moshfegh had been writing short stories for some time before publishing her first full-length novel, "Eileen," in 2015. Though it wasn't quite the hit "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" came to be, "Eileen" debuted to stellar reviews, winning the PEN/Hemingway Award and becoming a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

It took until 2023 for the film adaptation to materialize, but when it did, the film managed to preserve much of what made the novel so great — as attested to by the reviews. Unfortunately, "Eileen" barely made an impact either culturally or commercially. But it should have, as this is one Hathaway-led book adaptation that, unlike "Verity," deserves your attention.

Eileen is directed by British filmmaker William Oldroyd, who made his feature directorial debut with 2016's "Lady Macbeth" starring Florence Pugh. More recently, he worked on Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson's mystery thriller Netflix miniseries "His & Hers." Between those two projects, he directed and produced "Eileen," and, in Ottessa Moshfegh's estimation, did a fine job of it.

The film stars Thomasin McKenzie ("Last Night in Soho") as Eileen Dunlop, an introverted, repressed secretary at a youth prison in 1964 Massachusetts. She lives with her widowed, alcoholic, and emotionally abusive father, and generally lives a fairly subdued and unremarkable existence. Then, Anne Hathaway shows up. In what I would imagine it would actually be like if Anne Hathaway started working at your job, the actor plays a radiant, darkly alluring femme fatale in the form of Dr. Rebecca St. John, a counselor who captivates Eileen with her sly charm. The two form a bond, and Eileen suddenly discovers new aspects of her personality. Soon, however, things take a dark turn, and Eileen finds herself plunged into a tumultuous situation.

Moshfegh was evidently impressed with the screen adaptation of her novel, but she and her husband did write it. Still, as the New Yorker's Ariel Levy noted in a 2018 piece on the author, "in a theoretical discussion about playing a part in a totalitarian regime, [Moshfegh] told me that she feared she'd be 'uncomfortably high up.'" That suggests she wouldn't be all that forthcoming with praise were she to dislike the movie. But as the author told Entertainment Weekly in 2022, "The first cut of it, I was like, 'This is so much better than my book.' So, the movie is really satisfying, I'm excited about that."

Considering how well-received "Eileen" was by critics, it's sort of unbelievable how little attention it got from audiences. As /Film's Ben Pearson put it in his review, Anne Hathaway lights the screen on fire in the film, which he described as "disturbing, stylish, and sexy" and "the first great movie of 2023." He wasn't the only one impressed by the film, either. 

"Eileen" earned itself an 81% "certified fresh" critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Maxwell Rabb of the Chicago Reader dubbing it a "triumphant" and "rousing directorial success." The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey was particularly impressed with how Thomasin McKenzie "plays off the film's inciting spark, a blonde-bobbed enigma played by Anne Hathaway," and even Wendy Ide of the Observer, who wasn't totally sold on the film, called Hathaway "magnetic."

Even with such an impressive critical reaction, however, "Eileen" slipped through the cracks. The film premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival ahead of its theatrical release in the United States in December of that year, ultimately bringing in $1.8 million at the box office. It did make /Film's 2023 movie awards list as "the best movie no one else saw," but it ultimately deserved better than to get lost in the shuffle. Thankfully, "Eileen" is available to rent and buy from the usual digital platforms, which any fan of Hathaway who may have been disappointed in "Verity" should do immediately.