In the fantasy film "Tuesday," Death Becomes Her
In the fantasy film "Tuesday," Death Becomes Her
The experience of grief is the red thread for this week's book, film and TV recommendation.
“The people we love are in the wind.” - Florence’s dad, in “The Dead Romantics” on where our loved ones go when they leave this life
The Film: “Tuesday” / The Subject: Death
At the beginning of the film Tuesday, now streaming on Max, a 15-year-old terminally ill paraplegic girl, named Tuesday, is visited by death, in the form of a size-shifting macaw. Disarming him with a joke, the bird momentarily forgets his raison d’etre and his laughing turns into a panic attack. Tuesday soothes him, acting the part of a caregiver, even tenderly bathing him in the sink (in his shrunken form) and ridding him of his grime so his vibrant plumage returns. Death is enchanted by Tuesday and the two continue talking with Tuesday listening to Death’s laments - his head is imploding with the voices of the dead, and he needs some rest. Tuesday is putting off the inevitable. She knows why he’s come to see her. He is there to end her mortal life, to extinguish her final breath. She’s not ready to leave.
Tuesday: Please don’t kill me.
Death aka the Macaw: I must. I must. I must. I must.
Tuesday: Can I at least phone my mom?
Death: Ok.
Enter Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Tuesday’s caregiver - a single mother caring for her daughter with the assistance of a nurse aid. During the day, she leaves Tuesday in the care of her nurse, and pawns the remaining furniture and artwork on the house's second floor to finance her daughter’s care.
Zora's character is portrayed with depth and complexity. As a devoted mother, she grapples with anger and sadness. When Tuesday introduces her mother to Death, the macaw, Zora responds by setting the bird on fire and consuming him to spare her daughter and herself. A poignant scene in the park captures her longing for normalcy as she falls asleep watching other families, highlighting her emotional exhaustion. When she returns home disheveled, the nurse's criticism of her parenting feels unfair, prompting viewers to empathize with Zora's struggles. This moment powerfully illustrates the challenges of balancing personal needs with caregiving responsibilities, urging us to withhold judgment and consider Zora's difficult journey.
Louis-Dreyfus is one of the finest actresses out there. I challenge you to find me a more versatile one. Comedians always make the best dramatic actors and here she soars (no pun intended) even as she transforms into death herself. Never once in this film, did the facade of angry, complex, funny, sad, human dispel. She fully embodied the essence of pain and maternal love needed for the scenes with her daughter. At the same time, it was not uncommon in the film for the dynamic to shift, with her portraying a brooding, messy teenager while her daughter took on a more mature, grown-up role. Death often accelerates these changes in relationships and makes us take on different roles.
The most beautiful films skillfully navigate the full spectrum of human emotions, allowing seemingly contradictory feelings to coexist (Life is Beautiful) in exceptionally, sad moments. This movie masterfully balances poignant moments with genuine humor, from Zora's witty haggling over "Nazi loot" at the pawnshop to the authentic teenager-parent banter between Tuesday and Zora on the couch, waiting for death to take Tuesday - both child and parent complicit in the acknowledgment that death is imminent.
One small complaint is that Zora is American while her daughter is British. The accents between mother and daughter are confusing and may exaggerate their personality differences at times, given some of the cultural nuances. There was no explanation as to the “why” and it’s not a big deal, just a bit of an anomaly. One can suppose that Zora met Zora’s dad in England, but he’s not in the picture. Either way, this film is engrossing and captivating.
“Disclaimer” is Sad & Sexy
The hot, new Alfonso Cuarón pilot, Disclaimer, over at Apple TV+ is taking the serial stage by storm. It stars Cate Blanchett as a present-day posh wet blanket (Catherine Ravenscroft) who, it’s revealed in episode 3 of the show, was very much of a sexy seductress in her 20s, via flashbacks where she seduces the IRL boyfriend of Olivia Rodrigo, Louis Partridge (Enola Holmes) in an Italian villa hotel. Leila George who plays the younger Blanchett, is Vincent D'Onofrio’s daughter, and Sean Penn’s ex.
While this show primarily deals with the fallout of Catherine’s irresponsible choices and youthful indiscretions with the younger man which led to tragedy, grief is not part of the Episode 3 equation. Sufficed to say, I’m surprised that the episode got by with just an MA rating if you get my drift. It’s worth a whirl. And then you can return to being sad, as I’m sure the remaining episodes will demonstrate the price paid for giving into carnal desires. But all that to say, sexy and sad often go together, don’t they? This brings me to my book recommendation.
Romance is Dead & Maybe That’s a Good Thing
In The Dead Romantics, grief-romance author, Ashley Poston, goes all in on the pain of losing a parent AND finding out the guy you were meant to be with just got hit by a car. The good thing is the protagonist, a romance writer, can see dead people (don’t make a Sixth Sense joke) so she can proceed with a platonic romance relationship with the guy involving deep intimacy. She is also still reeling from the end of a bad relationship with a guy who stole her life’s story to write his next bestseller. The recipe for Poston’s success, as I witnessed in the last book of hers I devoured, The Seven Year Slip, is her ability to articulate the journey of grief and its effects (depression stupor) and uplift from that same place of darkness via the path of self-love which gives way to romantic love. She’s masterful at this.
Let’s Discuss
Have you seen Tuesday?
What’s your favorite Julia Louis-Dreyfus show or film?
Are you watching Disclaimer yet?
I haven’t started Shinking yet. Have you? Hearing a lot about people thinking there’s not enough Harrison Ford!
Do you read romance? If so, how often do you slip into this sub-genre of ghost love? It was a new one for me…
What are the hottest “ghost romance” films? You can’t say Ghost!
Are love and pain just two sides of the same content coin?
In Other Grief-Related Content:
My Piece for
’s Latest Post - On how my mother’s death has affected me. It’s a timely one given it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month and her birthday was 10/31. She would have been 80 years old! She died at 49.Good Grief on Netflix. I loved this film.
Cancer & its permutations onscreen
A Thought-Provoking Analysis of The Substance, the controversial film on everyone’s minds.
My takeaway quote from
’s review:“For many not gifted with great looks they will never be able to get into the room in which Moore is grieving not being allowed back into. That is to say that the movie is less a conversation about patriarchy and more about vanity, at least that is my takeaway.”
If Grief Isn’t Your Thang
These 2 shows are coming out in the next few weeks and I’m excited for them:
The Diplomat, Season 2 (thriller involving a career diplomat starring Keri Russell) Season 2 on Netflix on 10/31
Silo, Season 2 (Sci-Fi goodness) on Apple TV+
I haven't started season 2 of Shrinking yet but I'm dying to. Season 1 was soooo good!
Grief is the final expression of love. We cannot control its appearance and it's proof of how deeply we have loved. When my father died, my brother and I were talking about how grief struck we were, and I said I would not want it any other way. It shows me how deeply I love him.