Tully Movie Review Moms Empowerment to Rise Above the Challenges of Motherhood

Movies

MBE partnered with Focus Features for this post

Motherhood is the most challenging job a woman can have. Sometimes, actually, it's so tough it pushes many of us unexpectedly to our limits or even beyond. As the mom of four kids born in a year -- first a singleton, followed by triplets -- I have learned by experience how overwhelming and exhausting being a mommy can be. For sure, there are times when moms like you or I need to look within ourselves to find our own unique way to cope and succeed with the challenges before us. In the simplest of terms, that's the premise of the indie movie Tully from Focus Features, opening in theaters nationwide May 4th.

Charlize Theron stars as Marlo in Jason Reitman's TULLY, a Focus Features release. 
Credit: Kimberly French / Focus Features



As the film unfolds, Marlo, played by Charlize Theron, is the wife of a not particularly involved workaholic, video-game loving daddy (Ron Livingston). Just a few days from delivering the couple's third child, Marlo is already at the point beyond exhaustion which real life mothers and mothers-to-be will relate to. 

When her new baby Mia is born, she feels even more alone and exhausted not only by the daily drudgery of nursing and diapering her newborn, but in also meeting the needs of her other kids: a daughter wiser than her years and a quirky son who has sensory issues.






With this kind of mom juggling act, it's easy to see why Marlo is soon wishing for a simple, less complicated life, before marriage and children, a way to escape the current demands of motherhood.  Sensing a cry for help, her thoughtful brother Craig (Mark Duplass) makes her an offer: to gift her a night nurse so she can recover from sleep deprivation and reclaim her overall happiness as a wife and mother. 

What happens next, and how Marlo ultimately copes with her feelings of being an overworked mom, is what the movie is really all about.

Mackenzie Davis stars as Tully in Jason Reitman's TULLY, a Focus Features release. 
Credit: Kimberly French / Focus Features



Directed by Jason Reitman, the film's fantastic cinematography (including a scene reminiscent of Shape of Water), along with the on-screen chemistry between Theron and Mackenzie Davis (Tully, the young night nanny), artistically captures the good, bad and ugly human emotions we feel as mothers. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if these performances of Theron and/or Davis were rewarded with Oscar nominations.

Trying to be supermoms against all odds, we are not unlike Marlo. We push ourselves to be forever present for our kids, to do everything we can for them, to the point of exhaustion and beyond. To always try to be there when our children need us, no matter how tired we are. The big question is what to do when we've given all we can give. What then?

About Tully
With Jason Reitman (Juno, Young Adult) at the helm as director, Tully debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The script, written by Producer Diablo Cody, is inspired by her own first-hand struggles and experiences as the mom of three. The comedy/drama stars Charlize Theron as Marlo the haggard mommy of two young kids plus a newborn. Rounding out the headliners in the cast are Mackenzie Davis as Tully, the young night nanny; Mark Duplass as Craig (Marlo's brother); and Ron Livingston as Drew, Marlo's husband. Rated R, 1 hour 36 minutes, from Focus Features.

FTC Disclosure: Focus Features hosted Mommy Blog Expert for a special event and advance screening, as well as press conference, prior to the movie's release to facilitate this review. No payment was received in connection with this post and opinions here are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's  home page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.