Being the Ricardos

Being the Ricardos is set during a single production week of the sitcom I Love Lucy, following Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as they face a pair of crises at once. One threatens to derail the show they have built together, while the other puts their marriage under strain. The week moves from the first table read through to the Friday taping in front of a live audience, with the couple navigating conflicts at work and at home while their series and their careers hang in the balance.

Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed the film, his third outing as director after Molly's Game and The Trial of the Chicago 7. Nicole Kidman plays Lucille Ball and Javier Bardem plays Desi Arnaz, with J.K. Simmons and Nina Arianda as their co-stars William Frawley and Vivian Vance, and Tony Hale and Alia Shawkat among the supporting cast. Amazon Studios produced the film with Escape Artists and Big Indie Pictures.

Released in December 2021, the film runs 132 minutes. Its ratings sit in similar territory across audiences and critics, with IMDb and TMDB both recording 6.5 out of 10 and a critics' score of 6.6 from 279 reviews, suggesting a mixed but not dismissive response. Sorkin's next film as director, The Social Reckoning, followed in 2026.