Daina Oniunas-Pusić

''Tuesday'' is a 2023 fantasy dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Daina O. Pusić in her feature directorial debut. A co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States, the film stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Lola Petticrew as a mother and daughter who are guided by Death in the form of a size-altering macaw in coping with the daughter's impending death from a terminal illness. Leah Harvey and Arinzé Kene also star.

''Tuesday'' had its world premiere at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on 1 September 2023. The film was released in North America in June 2024, and in the United Kingdom on 9 August 2024. It received generally favourable reviews from critics.

Plot

Zora's 15-year-old wheelchair-bound daughter Tuesday has an incurable terminal illness and Death comes to her in the form of a size-altering macaw to give her final deliverance from pain and suffering. Tuesday realises who and what the talking size-shifting bird is, and asks it not to kill her until her mother arrives home. Zora, on seeing Death and hearing it say that she needs to say good-bye to her daughter because every life must come to an end, at first tries to catch the macaw, and then tricks Death into going into the garden, where she bashes it repeatedly with a heavy book and sets fire to it. On hearing Death's dogged exhortation that Tuesday must die, Zora puts the badly charred bird into her mouth and swallows it whole.

With Death swallowed in Zora's body and unable to perform its life-terminating duties, numerous reports begin to circulate of people and animals not dying from accidents, usually expected to be lethal, and then continuing to roam the countryside in zombie state despite their injuries. With Death still inside her, Zora spontaneously changes her size when put under stress by Tuesday's persistent questioning about Death's whereabouts. Tuesday persuades her mother to deputise for Death in its absence, rendering final relief from pain to the suffering animals and people. On hearing Tuesday trying to control her pain through conscious breathing, Zora realises in how much pain her daughter is. She regurgitates Death and they come to an agreement how to proceed, with Tuesday passing away later that day.

Zora becomes demoralised after her daughter's demise and sometime later Death comes to visit her to see how she is. Zora speculates that it would be better for her to be dead, hoping for afterlife or a God. Death tells her that there is no God, not in any human way - and afterlife is the legacy that one leaves behind in other people's memories, how Zora lives it is Tuesday's afterlife. The film closes with Zora exhaling and telling herself "Get up, woman".

Cast

Production

In May 2021, it was announced that Oniunas-Pusić would direct the film in her feature directorial debut, and that Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lola Petticrew, Arinzé Kene and Leah Harvey had joined the cast.

''Tuesday'' was co-produced between London-based Wild Swim Films and Gingerbread Pictures (which was founded by Helen Gladders, who served as one of the producers for the film), in association with Record Player Films (founded by Oliver Roskill, another one of this film's producers). Support and funding were provided by BBC Film, Creative England, BFI and US-based Cinereach (and with some additional funding originating from UK Government, according to the film's closing credits, namely HM Treasury and DCMS ''Film & TV Production Restart Scheme''); with A24, BBC Film and BFI presenting the production.

Principal photography began in the United Kingdom in June 2021, with Alexis Zabé serving as cinematographer; filming wrapped in late July.

Release

''Tuesday'' had its world premiere at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on 1 September 2023. It was also screened at the BFI London Film Festival on 11 October 2023.

The film had a limited theatrical release in the United States on 7 June 2024, before expanding nationwide and to Canada on 14 June 2024. It was released in select cinemas in the United Kingdom on 9 August 2024.

Reception

Box office

In the UK, ''Tuesday'' grossed $5,025 from 14 cinemas during its opening weekend.

In the USA, the film grossed $25,665 during its opening weekend from 2 theatres. , its revenue in North America was $706,683.

Critical response

James Verniere of ''Boston Herald'' summarised in his positive review for ''Boston Movie News'': "This striking debut film is like a live-action Studio Ghibli fable. Louis-Dreyfus is a revelation." JD Duran of ''InSession Film'' was equally upbeat: "''Tuesday'' is a deeply weird, but funny movie about not just confronting death but creating a relationship with it."

Siddhant Adlakha gave the film a negative review on ''Mashable'': "A confoundingly bad work of cinema. Has all the makings of a gentle fairytale about loss, but it ends up visually, narratively, and tonally janky at every possible turn." Peter Bradshaw of ''The Guardian'' echoed those sentiments: "As it is, the movie can’t quite bear to make the macaw properly funny, or properly scary. So the action exists in a tonal muddle."

NPR included ''Tuesday'' on its list of the best movies and TV of 2024, with critic Aisha Harris writing that "Daina O. Pusić’s impressive directorial debut is a big swing that connects on every level, if you allow it to."

References

External links

Official website
*{{IMDb title, 14682800

2023 films
2020s English-language films
A24 (company) films
British drama films
British Film Institute films
BBC Film films
English-language drama films
Films about mother–daughter relationships
Films about death
Films about birds
Stage 6 Films films