R | 1h 51m | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller | 2024
Let’s be honest here: There aren’t a lot of people that get stoked up at the idea of watching a movie about a parent coming to terms with the impending or recent death of their child.
The most successful of these movies (“Terms of Endearment” from 1983) did very well at the box office and won five Academy Awards (out of 11 nominations). Its popularity had less to do with the content, and more because of its high-profile cast (Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, Debra Winger, Danny DeVito, John Lithgow, and Jeff Daniels).
Stylistically Entrancing
While the content of the new drama “Tuesday” is similar to all of the above titles in one way or another, it differentiates itself by working in elements of fantasy. This daring stylistic inclusion makes the movie simultaneously foreboding and, for lack of a better word, entrancing.Pinching some elements from Best Picture Oscar winner “Birdman” (2014), first-time Croatian feature writer and director Daina O. Pusic includes a CGI-generated macaw as “Death” (voiced by Arinze Kene). This is an apparition that can change in size from a grain of rice up to a basketball center instantly. Death has arrived to claim Tuesday (Lola Petticrew), a woman in her late teens, who is in the final stages of an unspecified form of cancer.
The wheelchair-bound Tuesday lives with her American-born single mother Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) in a tony enclave in London. There is no mention of the origin or current status of Tuesday’s father, although it is implied he was the reason Zora first moved to England.
Tuesday spends most of her days in the company of Billie (Leah Harvey), a freshly minted nurse. Billie performs her duties (bathing and feeding Tuesday) well, but is easily distracted and doesn’t have the greatest bedside manner.
Billie is sharp enough to figure out she’s not the person Tuesday should be sharing her innermost thoughts and feelings with, and tries to make this clear to Zora.
Empathy and Animus
The situation reaches critical mass one day when Zora ignores calls from both Billie and Tuesday, and the latter smashes her phone in frustration. This sudden burst of anger isn’t lost on Death, who has already begun developing empathy for Tuesday and marked animus for Zora.At the halfway point, Billie takes a permanent powder, and the remainder of the story is played out as a three-hander between Tuesday, Zora, and Death.
Thus far, Pusic hasn’t presented anything within the narrative that could be considered revelatory or original—unless you consider swapping out a talking tropical bird for the Grim Reaper to be mind-blowing.
Where Pusic really succeeds and pushes the envelope is in presenting the mother of a dying child as the initial antagonist, and Death itself as that same child’s principal ally. Any fears Tuesday had regarding dying all but dissipate because of her bonding with Death, not so much by choice, but because she has no other options.
A Towering Achievement
As first features go, “Tuesday” is a towering achievement. The dialogue and character development are superb. Pusic’s ability to weave gallows humor throughout the story is beyond impressive. She’s not making fun or light of the situation, but rather pointing out irony with tongue planted firmly in cheek. It’s a high-wire act even the most seasoned of filmmakers would probably avoid.
The performance by Louis-Dreyfus (the most awarded comedic actress in television history) is jaw-dropping. Although she’s appeared in a handful of comedic drama features, “Tuesday” is the first to fully utilize every tool in her wheelhouse. Unless something goes terribly askew over the next six months, she should be a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination.
“Tuesday” is not for all tastes by anyone’s standards, but for those always on the lookout for something far off the beaten path that challenges expectations, it will be well worth your time.
