Tallulah - A Movie Review

You never know what will happen in life. Sometimes you just have to expect the unexpected.

Tallulah is a 2016 Netflix film about a young homeless woman, living in her van, is mistaken as a babysitter. Tallulah runs away with the baby believing she deserves a better life. Taking recluse with an unhappy woman, their minds are opened up to the world.

If you are looking for a film about the existence of humanity, Tallulah is a beautiful movie depicting growth, love, and honesty. The acting is remarkable. A powerful message is delivered to audiences that sometimes, people make the wrong choices, but having a chance to learn and grow is a value.

Ellen Page gives a tremendous performance as a woman with traits of an immature teenager, slowly transforming into a young woman having to understand the facts of life. Tallulah was never afraid to speak her mind, conversing rudely about topics and just being honest. I liked that about her.

Page was remarkable. She was not afraid to show herself as an unpleasant woman who is happy to not have everything she wants in life. Her relationship with the little baby is sweet, and I like how they interacted.

I have been waiting for a film that does not show Allison Janney as an unpleasant, rude, mean-spirited character. Her role as Margo, a woman who once had a positive outlook, has been reduced to an inwardly struggling person holding back from living the life she wants. Janney takes a step out of the stereotypical role to deliver a powerful performance teaching Tallulah how to be a mother.

Page and Janney worked very well together. Clearly opposite in personality and lifestyles, their interactions are humorous as they get on each other’s nerves, laying down the hard truth at some points. You’ll get a kick out of the dinner scene.

I have gone back and forth on whether or not the movie should have only been about Tallulah, the story features a subplot with the mother of the kidnapped baby. Tammy Blanchard plays a partying, unhappy, neglectful mother. Her acting choices were strange, specifically the way she spoke and reacted to certain situations. Her whole subplot was never given a solid conclusion.

It felt like there were two different movies going on, and to be honest, I liked Tallulah’s story better. The writers could have focused more on Tallulah rather than the mother who thought she was learning some sort of valuable lesson out of all this. I was thinking that she would only be in the film at the beginning, but writers felt that Carolyn needed a specific root to convey to the message.

Other talents included in Tallulah are Evan Jonigkeit, Felix Solis, David Zayes, Uzo Aduba, Fredric Lehne, John Benjamin Hickey and remarkable performances done by Evangeline and Liliana Ellis as Baby Maggie. Tallulah had great talents all around.

Sian Heder directed a deep film that opened up the world to humanity. Life is all about taking risks. We may not get what we want, but in the end, it’s all about how we react. There were some questionable moments in the story that could have been explained better.

I also felt like there was a very abrupt end, avoiding a concise conclusion on what happens to the characters, specifically Tallulah. Otherwise, Tallulah was a very well-acted film delivered by Page and Janney.

Some of my favorite scenes involved Page interacted with the little baby, Madison. Tallulah made me smile. If you’re searching for a movie to watch I recommended that you find this movie on Netflix. You won’t be disappointed.