Julia Louis-Drefuss Soars as Grieving Mom in Tuesday

The title of this film may be a bit misleading.  It is not a cinematic chronicle referring to the day of the week, but rather the name of a young English girl who is gravely ill.  Tuesday (Lola Petticrew) and her Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) navigate their own personal dynamics, grief and death.

Directed and written by Daina Oniunas-Pusic, the tone is set with intense opening visuals through the eye of an utterly gorgeous stuttering bird aka death.  The film plays like a fantastical sci-fi version of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ as death makes his way from one suffering human to the next until he lands with Tuesday.

At its core, this is a film about mothers, daughters and grief. Wonderfully acted by both Petticrew and Dreyfus, this film is hands down one of the most prolifically profound performances of Drefus’ career. Mothers and daughter relationships are complicated and beautiful at one.  Their performances assist in bringing out the best of each part of that spectrum. It’s layered, nuanced and breaks your heart in a million pieces.

Having said that, there are moments that will have you scratching your head while tilting it on its side like a puppy hearing a weird noise.  This weirdly paced film travels at its own speed, yet is gorgeously shot bringing a little bit of dark humor to a subject most never want to acknowledge nor embrace.  Loss is immensely hard when it is a child, sibling or parent. It’s a feeling of loss one learns to live with, but will never really get over the love and presence left behind in the heart, soul and spirit.