# Grandma
**Grandma** is a 2015 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Weitz, in which the acerbic lesbian poet Elle Reid ([Lily Tomlin](https://www.edgepedia.org/lily-tomlin)) spends a single day driving around Los Angeles with her pregnant teenage granddaughter Sage ([Julia Garner](https://www.edgepedia.org/julia-garner)) to raise money for an abortion. It premiered at the 2015 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) and was distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, which acquired worldwide rights in January 2015.[1](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Grandma-Release.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Written and directed by | Paul Weitz; produced by Andrew Miano, Weitz, Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis, and Terry Dougas[1](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Grandma-Release.pdf) |
| Premiere | World premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival; Sony Pictures Classics acquired worldwide rights on January 27, 2015[1](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Grandma-Release.pdf) • [2](https://www.filmcomment.com/sundance-interview-lily-tomlin/) |
| Cast | Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer, Laverne Cox, and Sam Elliott[1](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Grandma-Release.pdf) |
| Release and rating | August 21, 2015 (domestic, limited); rated R; 79 minutes[3](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/grandma-2015) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4270516/) |
| Budget and gross | Budget $600,000; domestic opening $115,540; worldwide gross $7,205,073[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4270516/) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 77 from 37 critic reviews; 92% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 172 reviews[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/grandma/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/grandma_2015) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Elle Reid has just broken up with her girlfriend when her granddaughter Sage unexpectedly arrives needing $600 before sundown. Temporarily broke, Elle and Sage spend the day trying to get the money, and their unannounced visits to old friends and flames rattle skeletons and dig up secrets.[1](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Grandma-Release.pdf) Sage is pregnant, does not want the baby, and needs a little over $600 to pay for a procedure scheduled for later that day; among their schemes is selling [Betty Friedan](https://www.edgepedia.org/betty-friedan) first editions.[7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/grandma-film-review-drama-subversive-comedy-and-prochoice-polemic-a6768291.html)
Elle is a 74-year-old lesbian and successful poet, reeling from the death of her long-term partner and the end of a short-term relationship.[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2015/08/27/director-paul-weitz-reveals-the-inspiration-behind-his-grandma/) Her partner of 38 years has recently died of illness, and Elle has drained her savings paying hospital bills and cut up her credit cards, which she used to make a decorative mobile on her front porch.[2](https://www.filmcomment.com/sundance-interview-lily-tomlin/) The stops on the drive include the baby's father, Sage's hard-nosed mother Judy ([Marcia Gay Harden](https://www.edgepedia.org/marcia-gay-harden)), whom grandmother and granddaughter share a fear of, and one of Elle's old lovers, Karl ([Sam Elliott](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-elliott)), who has cash but also a grievance.[9](https://time.com/4004374/grandma-hits-the-road-with-vintage-style/) Over the course of the day, Elle is forced to confront her past and Sage her future.[3](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/grandma-2015)
## Production
**Writing for Tomlin.** Weitz conceived the film while working with Lily Tomlin on *Admission* (2013), in which she played [Tina Fey](https://www.edgepedia.org/tina-fey)'s mother, and wrote the part of Elle specifically for her; he said he heard her voice in his head as he wrote and would not have made the film without her.[2](https://www.filmcomment.com/sundance-interview-lily-tomlin/) • [10](https://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/25810/interview-actor-sam-elliott-director-paul-weitz-visit-grandma) He described the character's sense of humor as "flat-out Lily's sense of humor" and said his audience for the film was Tomlin herself.[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/paul-weitz-wrote-grandma-for-an-audience-of-one-lily-tomlin/2015/08/27/33747d98-4845-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html) Tomlin's script input was mostly discussion with Weitz about issues such as the cost of an abortion and why Elle is so angry; she also pushed him to complicate the off-screen character of Violet, Elle's late partner of nearly 40 years, arguing that a couple together that long would have had fights.[2](https://www.filmcomment.com/sundance-interview-lily-tomlin/) • [11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/paul-weitz-wrote-grandma-for-an-audience-of-one-lily-tomlin/2015/08/27/33747d98-4845-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html)
Weitz has said the title was meant to be ironic, since "grandma" suggests a sweet old lady, and that he was interested in a 74-year-old character who was ten times as edgy as the 18-year-old. He also drew on his own forceful maternal grandmother, originally from Mexico, whose nickname was "The General."[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2015/08/27/director-paul-weitz-reveals-the-inspiration-behind-his-grandma/) He described the finished film as a "chamber piece" and said he did not intend an issue movie or polemic about abortion.[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/paul-weitz-wrote-grandma-for-an-audience-of-one-lily-tomlin/2015/08/27/33747d98-4845-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html) • [10](https://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/25810/interview-actor-sam-elliott-director-paul-weitz-visit-grandma)
**Tomlin's own belongings on screen.** Elle's costume, the long-sleeve black T-shirt, jean jacket, black pants, and Jack Purcell sneakers, is Tomlin's own, as is the vintage car she drives: a black 1955 Dodge Royal Lancer that Tomlin bought in 1975.[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/paul-weitz-wrote-grandma-for-an-audience-of-one-lily-tomlin/2015/08/27/33747d98-4845-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html)
## Reception
The film earned a Metascore of 77, with 30 of 37 critic reviews positive and none negative, and holds 92% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/grandma/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/grandma_2015) Stephen Holden of *The New York Times* called it "acerbically funny" with Tomlin "giving a career-capping performance,"[12](https://www.sonyclassics.com/grandma/) and A.O. Scott, in the same paper, wrote that "the wonder that is Grandma can be summed up in two words: Lily Tomlin."[13](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/grandma/critic-reviews/) *Time* ranked Tomlin's performance ninth among 2015's best, describing a "prickly-tender performance that's less about aging than about the great and terrible process of getting to know yourself."[14](https://time.com/4144126/movies-2/)
The film was noted for its treatment of abortion. Geoffrey Macnab of *The Independent* wrote that Weitz combined family drama, subversive comedy, and pro-choice polemic in 80 brisk minutes while never taking to the soap box, and later commentary on abortion in film grouped *Grandma* with *Obvious Child* and *Shrill* as comedies centered on the woman's experience.[7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/grandma-film-review-drama-subversive-comedy-and-prochoice-polemic-a6768291.html) • [15](https://time.com/5799385/abortion-onscreen-representation/) The film was also a commercial success relative to its cost, returning $7,205,073 worldwide on a $600,000 budget.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4270516/)
For Tomlin, then 75, the role was her first lead in a feature film since *Big Business* (1988).[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/paul-weitz-wrote-grandma-for-an-audience-of-one-lily-tomlin/2015/08/27/33747d98-4845-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html) Weitz later reused the pairing in *Moving On* (2023), which stars Tomlin and [Jane Fonda](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-fonda).[16](https://www.thewrap.com/paul-weitz-moving-on-lily-tomlin-jane-fonda-video/)
## References
1. [Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Paul Weitz's Grandma, press release (January 27, 2015)](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Grandma-Release.pdf)
2. [Sundance Interview: Lily Tomlin, Film Comment (January–February 2015)](https://www.filmcomment.com/sundance-interview-lily-tomlin/)
3. [Grandma, 2015 Tribeca Festival](https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/grandma-2015)
4. [Grandma (2015), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4270516/)
5. [Grandma Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/grandma/)
6. [Grandma (2015), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/grandma_2015)
7. [Grandma, film review: drama, subversive comedy and pro-choice polemic, The Independent (December 10, 2015)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/grandma-film-review-drama-subversive-comedy-and-prochoice-polemic-a6768291.html)
8. [Director Paul Weitz reveals the inspiration behind his 'Grandma,' The Washington Post (August 27, 2015)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2015/08/27/director-paul-weitz-reveals-the-inspiration-behind-his-grandma/)
9. [Grandma Hits the Road With Vintage Style, Time](https://time.com/4004374/grandma-hits-the-road-with-vintage-style/)
10. [Interview: Actor Sam Elliott, Director Paul Weitz Visit 'Grandma,' HollywoodChicago.com](https://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/25810/interview-actor-sam-elliott-director-paul-weitz-visit-grandma)
11. [Paul Weitz wrote 'Grandma' for an audience of one: Lily Tomlin, The Washington Post (August 27, 2015)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/paul-weitz-wrote-grandma-for-an-audience-of-one-lily-tomlin/2015/08/27/33747d98-4845-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html)
12. [Grandma, A Sony Pictures Classics Release](https://www.sonyclassics.com/grandma/)
13. [Grandma critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/grandma/critic-reviews/)
14. [Time, Best Performances of 2015](https://time.com/4144126/movies-2/)
15. [How a Crop of New Movies Is Changing the Narrative About Abortion, Time](https://time.com/5799385/abortion-onscreen-representation/)
16. [How Moving On Was Ginned Up for Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/paul-weitz-moving-on-lily-tomlin-jane-fonda-video/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2015 to 2016 › Titles symbols to J*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license