Tuesday stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Lola Petticrew as mother and daughter in a fantasy story about grief and dying. The film takes a unique approach to this type of story. Tuesday is from writer and director Daina Oniunas-Pusic.
Lola Petticrew plays Tuesday, a teen girl near death. Her mom Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) can’t deal with what’s happening. She leaves the house every day pretending to go to work. She survives by hocking everything she owns while sitting in cafes and parks all day long. Nurse Billie (Leah Harvey) is the person actually taking care of Tuesday.
Everything about this story is metaphorical. Death, voiced wonderfully by Arinzé Kene, is a parrot. A parrot that is ready to end Tuesday’s life, but spends time talking with her instead. Tuesday is ready to die, but Zora isn’t ready to let her go.
Zora tries everything to keep Death from her daughter. She stomps Death, burns it, eats it. But she does finally deal with the idea that her daughter is going to die. That part of the story is represented metaphorically, too.
The acting in Tuesday is impressive. The actors were often acting with nothing but thin air knowing a parrot would be drawn in later. The parrot went from tiny to huge. After Zora ate Death, she went from tiny to huge too. The visuals were extremely well done.
The days that Death spent with Tuesday and Zora meant that many people who needed Death’s services were being ignored. It brought chaos to the world outside the house.
The film was different but touching and heartfelt. There have been many movies about ill loved ones and the people who weren’t able to let them go. This one is a fantasy, but also one of the most real things I’ve ever seen. Death was the sweet and sympathetic character in the story, bringing peace and relief. The pain belonged to the ones left behind to grieve.
You’ve never seen Julia Louis-Dreyfus like this before. She was magnificent in the role.
Tuesday is streaming on Max. There are some minor spoilers in the trailer.