The earth echoes screams of fear taken in by a large parrot – Death (Arinzé Kene) embodied as an unfathomable feathered creature. Ineluctable and unswayed – the purpose is for the bird to silence the cries. Or perhaps Death is more complex in Tuesday.
Lily Tuesday Markovich (Lola Petticrew) is terminally ill. She’s a teenager with a sense of the absurdity and bleakness of her situation. When Death comes to take her after hearing her laboured breathing, she stalls him by telling him a joke. The bird laughs, shrinks, and has a panic attack. Something about Tuesday has entranced him and he places his broken self in her hands.
“Please don’t kill me.” Tuesday begs of death as he places his wings around her. “I must, I must, I must,” he responds with regret. Death and Tuesday find solace in their strange friendship; she calming the thunder in his head and giving him a voice, his presence reassuring her that it is okay to let go.
Tuesday’s mother Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is in denial about her daughter’s condition. When confronted with Death and what is inevitable, she refuses to hear what Tuesday and Death tell her. Zora ‘destroys’ death, setting fire to him and swallowing him – doing what ‘parents have to do.’ Zora’s actions create an apocalyptic world without death.
Writer and director Daina O. Pusić’s fable is about the weight of knowing a loved one is dying and being powerless to change the inevitable. It has the added resonance of the dying person also being afraid of what their death means to the one who will grieve them. When Zora swallows Death she must become his avatar – hearing the cries and prayers of the dying and bringing peace. The question Pusić asks is if with all Zora learns about the reason Death does what he must, can she apply it to the pain she hears from Tuesday?
Although beautifully staged and elegantly shot, Pusić’s film lacks insight to make it unique beyond its fantasy concept. Death is by far the most interesting character as he bonds first with Tuesday and later with Zora. Being both loathed and desired for his gift has made him eternally lonely. He has only been a functionary in the wheel of existence – an essential part of the fabric of all that is but also apart from it. He has seen everything, felt everything, but shared his knowledge with no one until he encounters Tuesday.
There is poignancy to the relationship between mother and daughter. Zora has stopped living because her daughter is dying. Tuesday’s burden is Zora’s grief. It is too much for both. Lola Petticrew and Julia Louis-Dreyfus give strong performances, especially the latter naturally moving into a dramatic role with ease.
Yet, Pusić too often mistakes symbolism for substance and muddies the narrative with flights of dark fancy that don’t settle in tone, with the film’s strengths unfortunately highlighting its weaknesses. Tuesday is inventive and the potential for something more profound is tantalisingly close but remains out of Pusić’s reach.
Writer and Director: Daina O. Pusić
Starring: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lola Petticrew, and Arinzé Kene
TUESDAY is screening for the Melbourne International Film Festival on the 15th and 18th of August. Details HERE
