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Tully (2018 film)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Tully
| image = Tully (2018 film).png
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Jason Reitman
| writer = Diablo Cody
| producer =
| starring =
| cinematography = Eric Steelberg
| editing = Stefan Grube
| music = Rob Simonsen
| studio =
| distributor =
| released =
| runtime = 95 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $13 million
| gross = $15.6 million
}}
'Tully' is a 2018 American comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman, written by Diablo Cody, and starring Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston, and Mark Duplass. The film follows the friendship between a mother of three and her night nanny. It is the third collaboration between director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody, following the films 'Juno' (2007) and 'Young Adult' (2011), the last of which also starred Theron.
The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was released in the United States by Focus Features on May 4, 2018. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Theron and Davis's performances and the film's portrayal of motherhood. Theron was nominated for Best Actress Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Comedy Movie at the 76th Golden Globe Awards and at the 24th Critics' Choice Awards, respectively.
Plot
Marlo is pregnant with an unplanned third child with her husband Drew. Their oldest daughter, Sarah, is an ordinary child, whereas Jonah, their son, has a developmental disorder doctors have not been able to diagnose; trying to reduce his sensitivity to external stimuli, she brushes his skin using the "Wilbarger protocol". Craig, Marlo's wealthy brother, offers to pay for a night nanny as a baby gift, partly as she experienced postpartum depression after giving birth to Jonah, but she rebuffs him.
After giving birth, Marlo quickly becomes even more overwhelmed and exhausted than she already had been. When Jonah's principal recommends that he be placed in a different school, she goes on a foul-mouthed tirade and then breaks down. In the parking lot, she finds the contact information for the night nanny in her purse.
That night, Tully, the night nanny, arrives at Marlo's house. Despite initial awkwardness, they develop a close friendship over the course of several nights. Tully proves to be an exceptional nanny and also performs tasks such as cleaning the house and baking cupcakes for Jonah's class. When Marlo mentions that she and Drew, who has a fetish for women in diner waitress uniforms, have not had sex for some time, Tully puts on a uniform that Marlo had previously purchased (but never used) and the women engage in a threesome with Drew.
One night, Tully arrives at work visibly distressed. She says she has fought with her roommate, with whom she is "enmeshed", due to her roommate's anger over her bringing home too many men. Tully impulsively suggests going into the city for a drink, to which Marlo reluctantly agrees, and they drive to Marlo's old neighborhood, Bushwick, Brooklyn. At a bar, Tully suddenly tells her she can no longer work for her, explaining that she was there only to "bridge a gap" and she is no longer needed. Marlo steals a bike and goes to her former girlfriend's apartment, but no one answers the buzzer. Tully suggests she may be taking things too far.
On the way home Marlo falls asleep at the wheel and swerves her car into a river. She wakes up trapped underwater and envisions Tully as a mermaid coming to rescue her.
At the hospital, a staff psychiatrist approaches Drew and informs him that Marlo was suffering from extreme sleep deprivation and exhaustion. When the doctor asks about their nanny, Drew tells her that he does not know much about her. A hospital clerk asks Drew for Marlo's maiden name, and he provides it: "Tully". Waking up in her hospital room, she is visited by Tully. They decide that they have to stop seeing each other and each thank the other for keeping them alive before parting amicably. Drew reenters and apologizes to Marlo for not realizing what she was going through and they both say they "love us".
At home, Marlo goes to brush Jonah. He questions if the procedure is "real", and they decide they no longer need to do it, though he says he likes to spend time with his mother and they embrace. She goes to the kitchen and puts in earbuds to listen to music while she prepares the kids' lunches for the next day. Drew comes in, takes one of the earbuds, and helps to chop things up while they listen to the music together.
Cast
Production
Diablo Cody wrote the film as a way of dealing with her own difficult pregnancy. The script helped her, becoming "a glowing, soothing presence I could return to whenever I felt overwhelmed." Reitman noted, according to Cody, that 'Tully' fits together thematically with their previous collaborations, logically concluding an unintentional trilogy where "'Juno' is about being prematurely thrust into adulthood, 'Young Adult' is about resisting adulthood, and 'Tully' is about finding grace and acceptance in midlife."
Theron said she gained nearly 50 pounds (23 kg) for the role over a period of three and a half months. She had to eat around the clock to keep the weight on, and then it took her a year and a half to take the weight off after filming wrapped.
Filming lasted from September 22 to November 2, 2016, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Release
In May 2017, Focus Features acquired distribution rights to the film and set the theatrical release date for April 20, 2018; however, in March 2018 the date was pushed back to May 4.
'Tully' was made available for digital download on July 17, 2018, and released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 31.
Reception
Box office
'Tully' grossed $9.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $6.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $15.6 million.In the United States and Canada, 'Tully' was released alongside 'Overboard' and 'Bad Samaritan', and was projected to gross $34 million from 1,353 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $3.2 million, which was a lower figure than Reitman's 'Labor Day' ($5.1 million in 2014), and finishing 6th at the box office. 87% of its audience was over the age of 25. 'Deadline Hollywood' noted that an opening of $6.5 million would have been an ideal debut for the film. It made $2.2 million in its second weekend, dropping to 8th place at the box office.
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of ; the website's critical consensus reads: "'Tully' delves into the modern parenthood experience with an admirably deft blend of humor and raw honesty, brought to life by an outstanding performance by Charlize Theron." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on 52 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". According to PostTrak, filmgoers gave the film an overall positive score of 73%, with audience members over the age of 25 giving it a 71% and those under 25 giving it an 87%.David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a "B", calling it "funnier than 'Juno' and almost as ruthlessly honest as 'Young Adult'", and saying: "'Tully' never pulls at your heartstrings quite as hard as it might, but there's something beautiful about the way these two women both learn to love themselves, and in a way that also makes it easier for them to love each other." Writing for 'Rolling Stone', Peter Travers praised the performances and script, giving the film 3.5 stars out of 4 and saying: "When the film takes a sharp turn and veers off-course in its final third, you hold on because Davis and Theron make sure you do. Together these two dynamite actresses cut to the soulful core of a movie that turns out to be funny, touching and vital."
Despite the film receiving positive reviews from many critics, one group of critics criticized the film for its portrayal of postpartum mental health. In particular, they took exception to the normalization and lack of recognition of postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis, which they deemed careless. Manohla Dargis' review in 'The New York Times' suggested that:
Marlo very visibly sinks into postpartum depression you can see Ms. Theron pulling Marlo deeper and deeper inside the movie pretends that her burden is somehow too hidden for anyone to notice ... it isolates Marlo, and once again it is a woman who's the problem that needs solving.
Diana Spalding (the digital education editor for the website 'Motherly', a midwife, and a pediatric nurse) argued that Theron's character displays behaviors more typical of postpartum psychosis, the symptoms of which include delusions, hallucinations, periods of extreme activity, anger, paranoia, and trouble communicating. Along with other negative critics of the movie, Spalding had looked forward to seeing a film about what motherhood is truly like, but instead found the issue of postpartum mental illness "unaddressed", and Marlo's suicidal ideation normalized. This condition is dangerous to both mother and child; according to Carolyn Wagner, a maternal mental health therapist based in Chicago, "it is extremely serious, and presents a grave danger to mom and infant. It does not involve [a] fantastical imagined friend and caregiver, and it is certainly nothing to be made into a plot twist."
Accolades
Notes
References
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