We only rarely see movies that deal with the difficult, complicated realities of motherhood, and we have never seen a movie about motherhood like 2018’s Tully. This is a movie that rolls its eyes and barks out snark in the face of all the clichés, and Charlize Theron embodies, in a beautifully worn-out way, the utter physical and psychological devastation of childbirth and nurturing a newborn. And while we don’t think of a movie like this, a small domestic dramedy, as being one in which sound design stands out, here a infant’s crying is as aurally violent as anything you’ll hear in a disaster flick or an action movie. It’s all brilliantly wise and funny, and profoundly moving.
Happy Mother’s Day to all my readers celebrating today. (Read my review.)
US: stream on Netflix; rent/buy on Prime and Apple TV
UK: rent/buy on Prime and Apple TV
See Tully at Letterboxd for more viewing options.
