Tuesday Movie Review

This is a very beautiful and personal film. If you’ve experienced loss, it’s going to hit you a lot harder than someone who hasn’t.

It’s about a mother, Zora, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus or Elaine from Seinfeld, going through the five stages of grief, which are, in order, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. When we are introduced to Zora, she is deep into stage one, denial, though she shows signs of some of the others. The only one she has not even gotten close to is acceptance. Zora doesn’t go home very often, sadly. Why? Her daughter, Tuesday, played by Lola Petticrew from Bloodlands, hasn’t passed on, but she’s very ill and maybe if Zora stays away, her daughter’s illness is not really happening. This is the mind of a delusional woman.

That said, before we know what’s going on with Tuesday, we are introduced to a macaw, or thick-billed parrot, who has seen better days. He’s, as he described, “filthy” and he’s tattered, but always with a job to do. This parrot is voiced by Arinzé Kene, who was in seven episodes of the series Flack. Voices in his head cry out to be taken; some just want their agony to stop. The macaw is Death. He, unfortunately, feels people’s pain but knows not of the acceptance and love they’ve been familiar with at some point in their lives. He was spat out of his mother’s womb into complete darkness and given the task of ending people’s lives. Sounds horrible. This is the one and only time I’ll feel sorry for death. It’s easy to do with what the visual effects team came up with for their antagonist. Is he the antagonist? You be the judge. Sometimes, he looks for the tenderness he has never had in those he whisks off into the unknown with the whoosh of his dirty, unkept wing. He’ll cuddle with a still-warm body, wondering what it feels like to be adored.

He focuses on Tuesday’s voice and pained breathing. He goes to her. She instinctively knows who he is and isn’t frightened. Instead, she speaks to him with sympathy and compassion. He speaks in a very deep voice, informing Tuesday that he finds her “unique” and is happy for the first time in a long time as she has taken the dark voices out of his head for a moment.

She also has a chance to care for him and he takes it. He doesn’t mind her attention, centering on his own needs, something very preternatural for him. He shrinks or grows to accommodate any situation he’s in so he’s not discovered. It’s here where you’ll notice that the sound design in the film and the unconventional novelty of the story come to life.

It’s funny and thoughtful, but it’s also heartbreaking and depressing. Yes, these are words to describe the film, which is imaginative and extremely well-acted. However, Zora finally meanders her way back home, does see him, and learns why he’s there. Think, if you were a parent, what you’d do to keep your child alive. Tuesday’s mother is suddenly always home, facing her biggest fear and dealing with it triumphantly… or so she thinks.

While there with Tuesday and coping with her mother, Death has neglected his duties. Oh, what a disaster that can become, right? See this movie. I’m giving it a high score for entertainment value and because I don’t cry in movies, but I did in this one. You may want to have a tissue with you. This is a magnificent script by five-time writer/director, Daina O. Pusić. It does have a few pacing issues, but this narrative is good enough that it’ll take a few days for it to get out of your head… and trust me, you’ll look for an excuse to see it again.