Tuesday

I have just watched this movie and wanted to write up my impressions while they are still fresh. I'll use my already familiar media literacy critique formula: any good creation of art (a movie, a painting, a book - anything, really, that has some encoded information in it as a medium) will affect us humans on four different dimensions. The best ones will pull all four strings, but a successful creation would probably have at least two:

1. Cognitive dimension (What did I learn from this movie? What did it make me think about?)

It's an excellent movie made by women and (mostly) for women. It warms my heart to think that the movie industry not only takes the 3-part Bechdel test (the work of art features (1) at least two named female characters (2) who have a conversation with each other (3) about something other than a man) as a minimum requirement now but produces movies where women are main characters, portraying them with deep care and reflection.

While researching the movie, I found out that it was Julia Louis-Dreyfus commitment and determination that made the movie happen (she is not only playing the mother in the movie but is also its producer). As a critic pointed out, if anyone could make such a beautiful, heartbreaking and surreal movie like Tuesday, it would be JLD. I've long admired her for her talent as a comedian, as well as for her personal perseverance (fighting and overcoming breast cancer) and her love of humanity, which shines in this dramatic role. Although I did chuckle on a couple of occasions, I saw Julia's performance here for what it was: not a comic playing an occasional serious role, but an accomplished dramatic actress at her best.

The movie was made by A24 and BBC Films, and as an independent small-budget movie I don't think it would make a lot of money. That's the paradox of the modern film industry: Movie goers always complain that there's nothing but franchises and formulaic blockbusters on silver screens and when a masterpiece like Tuesday comes out it ends up released to only a handful of theaters and quickly goes onto streaming platforms. If you can, please go see it in the movie theater, you will not regret it.

2. Emotional dimension (How did the movie make me feel?)

With a movie like this, there is no way to tell what it is about without giving the main spoiler. If you don't like the spoilers, please go watch the movie without reading any further. For those who are ready: It's about a mother losing her teenage daughter to a terminal disease and her confrontation with Death that appears as a beat-up Macaw with a rusty voice. I cried more than I thought I would, even knowing beforehand how the movie would end. It's just pulling the strings that you may not even suspect exist in your heart and soul.

3. Aesthetic dimension (How pleasing was the execution of the movie?)

It was beautifully and masterfully done: the soft lighting and subdued undertones and colors added to the feeling of sadness and finality in the movie, the camera work and in particular close-ups during the dialogues showed the deeply felt emotions of the mother and daughter, and in places where the story turned surreal, even absurd, it did not cross the "crazy" line. It was still believable. The beautiful setting of the house and garden created a sharp contrast to the argument scene where the daughter was so frustrated with her mother that she called the house they lived in "a fucking dump" when it clearly was not. Kudos to the set designers: Everything in the house was tastefully selected and carefully arranged to create its sad but artful atmosphere.

4. Moral dimension (What moral and ethical lessons does the movie teach us?)

There are two major lessons in this movie, in my view (although there are lots of smaller ones - about lying, the role of a caregiver who is more than just an employee, etc): (1) Don't try to cheat death, and (2) Don't mess with the mother who'd do anything to save her child. They are in a perpetual conflict in this movie, and you have to watch it to see how it was resolved.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie, even though I cried, it made me sad and self-reflective. I give it my two thumbs up and would watch it again. I'd love to see it with my son and personally think that any man would learn a lot from watching this "chick" movie.