Netflix New Release: Jay Kelly
Netflix New Release: Jay Kelly
Sam Kelly
November 14, 2025, Netflix released Jay Kelly, a movie starring George Clooney, playing an introspective actor who is actively falling out of the Hollywood spotlight. He is navigating a personal crisis looking at both his past and present through Europe. As he tries to rekindle relationships with his daughters he reflects on the outcomes of fame and how it changed him as a person. The characters that Jay portrayed throughout his life led to a loss of self-identity and shown through flashbacks in the movie where you see the shell of his former self.
While this is a deeply, profoundly sad movie, Jay Kelly is not the type of person you want to cry for. Matt Singer wrote on the movie review platform letterboxd, a review stating, “pickles never expire, but people are not pickles.” As the movie progresses there is a persistent and somewhat worrying reminder that you only get one shot at living. Despite this movie being about an actor whose life many of us will never be close to even somewhat experiencing, there is still a bit of relatability expressed. The movie represents a fear among many people that we will make sacrifices in our lives and relationships for our career just to have no one to celebrate our success with.
Personally, I really liked the movie. I think it's really interesting that the writers can make Jay’s character relatable in how he feels and even his circumstances despite them being something not many people experience. Several times while watching the movie I was reminded of how this was actually just one turning point in his pretty great life; where all of the actions he had taken prior had consequences. Feelings of empathy seeped into those of pity. I knew his situation wasn’t the best, but it was almost like a hungry toddler throwing a fit because they didn't like the flavor of food it was given. He still had so much more than others, but still felt like he didn’t have enough.