Tuesday
It’s always worth watching a film that takes as bold of swings as “Tuesday” does. Using fantasy as a way of getting to profound questions of life, death and family is not new in movies, but the way that writer-director Daina Oniunas-Pusic does so feels new. It’s a little bit “Pan’s Labyrinth,” a little bit “Seventh Seal,” with body horror and apocalyptic imagery thrown in for good measure. That makes the film sound much more visually-driven than it is, but there are moments of tremendous visual power in this film that are hard to ignore.
At its core, “Tuesday” is about how Death comes to a young teenage girl, played by Lola Petticrew, and how her mother, played by Julia Louise-Dreyfus, tries to stop it from taking her. When we first see the two, Tuesday (the daughter’s name) is laying in her bed being looked after by a caregiver while Zora, the mother’s name, is at work. Of course, we see that she is not at work, and she is trying to sell some things to get some money, all while lying about how her daughter is. The two do not seem to be particularly close, but when Death, in the form of a bird (voiced by Arinzé Kene), mother and daughter come together in an unexpected way.
Zora is an interesting character- she’s someone who is unafraid to be dishonest to people, but we do get the impression she is doing what she can so that her and Tuesday can survive. As played by Louise-Dreyfus (who is terrific, as always), she is someone who keeps her emotions at arm’s length, and as such, her daughter, but there are moments where we feel a real connection with them. When confronted with the spectre of losing Tuesday, she makes choices that feel extraordinary but are, in fact, simply maternal instinct to protect her young kicking in. That does lead to some unexpected side effects, however, I love the ways where Oniunas-Pusic utilizes magical realism as just a fact of this world without feeling the need to explain it. There are stunning visuals throughout the film.
As with Zora, however, the film keeps its emotions at arm’s length, and thus, it’s overall impact. The apocalyptic imagery in the film goes unexplained throughout, and as such, almost feels out of place with the rest of the movie. Louise-Dreyfus and Petticrew speaking with different accents really makes it difficult to buy that they are mother and daughter, though they do have lovely moments together. And after a key choice that Zora makes, the film almost grinds to a halt in its pacing; it is worth following through to the end, which very much lands its strongest punch, but it feels like a chore to get there. “Tuesday” is a big swing. It doesn’t quite hit it out of the park, but it does show Oniunas-Pusic as a filmmaker to watch.
