Tully
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Mark Duplass, Ron Livingston
Released: May 4
Marlo (Theron) is a new mother. Already a parent to two children, she is exhausted and surrounded by internal and external judgement. Her painfully wealthy brother (Duplass) offers her a ‘night nanny’ as a gift to her new child. While initially reluctant to outsource a core part of bonding with her baby, the oppressive solitude and grinding repetition of rearing a new-born leads her to accept the gift.
In enters beautiful, breezy 26-year-old Tully (Davis) to take care of her, her home, and enable her to be the mother and person she feels pressure to be. Tully acts as a kind of conscience; she poses questions on her life, her relationship with her loving yet distant husband (Livingston) and her past that nudge Marlo in the right direction, boost her self-worth and expand her horizons. The intimacy of their relationship, and Marlo’s deep need for societal support, is affecting. Competitiveness amongst women is considered, but without showing them to be catty or petty: the perspective is of unfair expectations on women regaining their body after pregnancy.
Moments of humour and genuine sweetness make difficult subject matter easily consumable. Childless viewers should be prepared for a terrifying, yet sympathetic, portrayal of the realities of modern pregnancy and motherhood. Tully goes in a surprising direction, becoming a story of mental illness handled in an interesting, unusual and kind way.
Words: Sarah Taaffe Maguire
