‘I mean, your 20s are great. They are, but then your 30s come around the corner like a garbage truck…’
After watching Young Adult, Monster and now Tully, all in the matter of a month or so, I’ve gone from being largely indifferent to Charlize Theron to considering her possibly the finest actress of her generation. Tully sees her reuniting with the team behind Young Adult, writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman, for a film that sees everything coming together to produce something wonderful…
Marlo (Theron) is a struggling soon-to-be mother of three who receives only limited support from her hapless husband Drew (Ron Livingston). Her life starts to improve with the appointment of enigmatic night nanny Tully (Mackenzie Davis).
I have absolutely no idea how hard it is to be a parent. I have no idea what it is like to suffer from depression (postnatal or otherwise). I have no idea how difficult it must be to juggle kids and work and a social life. This is an area that is outside of my, admittedly very limited, field of expertise. It is a testament then, to the talents of Cody, Reitman and especially Charlize Theron, that after watching Tully, I feel like I do know a little bit about these things. Tully paints a vivid picture of a woman quietly in crisis. A functioning breakdown. Theron throws herself into this performance resulting in an honest and raw portrayal of motherhood and mental illness.
Despite the deep subject matter, Tully is also full of warmth, full of humour, and at just other 90 minutes long, eminently watchable. I feel like I could watch movies that this trio has made forever, and I sincerely hope the three of them work together again.
The supporting cast do a great job also. Ron Livingstone is suitably clueless as the well meaning, but ineffectual patriarch, Mark Duplass is always a welcome addition to any project and Mackenzie Davis delivers a career best performance as the angelic, eponymous nanny who changes everything forever.
If you haven’t guessed, I loved this movie. It made me have feelings. It made me stop doom scrolling through my phone. A truly wondrous cinematic experience.