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‘Tuesday’ Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Takes on Death

Julia Louis-Dreyfus anchors Tuesday, an unsettling fairy tale about a mother, a terminally ill daughter and Death in the form of a talking bird.
Opened Runtime3 min Written byDocumentaryTube Team
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Tuesday turns a mother and daughter’s confrontation with terminal illness into an unsettling fairy tale, with Death appearing as a talking bird. Julia Louis-Dreyfus gives the story a volatile emotional center as Zora, a mother struggling to face the loss ahead. The film’s bold mix of intimate family drama, fantasy and body horror is part of its power—and a clear test of a viewer’s appetite for tonal extremes.

What is Tuesday about?

Written and directed by Daina Oniunas-Pusić, Tuesday follows teenager Tuesday (Lola Petticrew) and her mother, Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), as they confront Tuesday’s terminal illness. Death arrives not as an abstraction but as an astonishing talking bird, voiced by Arinzé Kene. Leah Harvey plays Billie, Tuesday’s nurse. A24 describes the film as a fairy tale about loss and resilience.

The central conflict is less a contest with Death than a clash between two ways of meeting it. Tuesday faces mortality directly; Zora’s struggle to accept what is happening gives the mother-daughter relationship its emotional pressure. The bird makes that reckoning visible, while the story remains rooted in the family’s domestic life.

How does Louis-Dreyfus’s performance work?

Louis-Dreyfus plays Zora as a mother whose fear and resistance can be difficult to watch, but whose anguish remains legible. The Associated Press review describes her performance as both chilling and deeply empathetic. That tension suits a character trying to protect herself from grief even as her daughter is living with its reality.

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#1 Best Overall
Chips (DVD)
  • Shrink-wrapped

Petticrew gives Tuesday a directness that keeps the film’s fantastical premise connected to a person rather than an idea. The AP critic says she holds her own opposite Louis-Dreyfus. Their contrast—Zora’s avoidance against Tuesday’s clearer encounter with mortality—provides the film with its dramatic spine.

What makes the film unusual—and potentially divisive?

Tuesday moves among domestic drama, fairy tale, body horror and apocalyptic imagery rather than settling into one mode. The talking macaw is both a striking story choice and a source of unease: Death is strange, physical and present in the family’s space. The Associated Press praises the effects that bring the bird to life and the film’s sound design; Sight and Sound likewise foregrounds the sharp-edged fairy-tale approach.

Rank #2

This collision of tones is not merely decoration. The grotesque fantasy gives shape to a subject that might otherwise remain abstract, but it can also make the experience feel volatile. If you want a restrained illness drama, the bird and the body-horror imagery may be distancing. If you are open to a stylized, unsettling treatment of grief, the film’s formal risk-taking is central to its appeal.

What did critics think?

Critical responses cited here are positive about the film’s ambition, but they are individual assessments rather than evidence of unanimous acclaim. The Associated Press called it “strange, emotional and fiercely original,” praising its creativity, performances, effects and sound. Sight and Sound emphasized its ambitious, sharp-edged fairy-tale form. The Guardian called it a “remarkable and assured first feature” and focused on Zora’s inability to accept losing her daughter.

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Rank #3
Legal Eagles [DVD]
  • Factory sealed DVD

Across those reviews, the strongest case for the film is the way its unusual fantasy is tied to an intimate relationship. The same stylistic boldness that makes it memorable may not work for viewers who prefer tonal consistency or naturalistic drama.

How long is Tuesday, and what is its rating?

The Associated Press lists a runtime of 111 minutes and reports an R rating for language from the Motion Picture Association. Apple TV’s US catalogue lists the film at 1 hour 50 minutes, a one-minute difference from the AP figure. The available catalogue listing confirms a US digital listing, not availability in every region or on every service.

Rank #4
Mortdecai [DVD] [2015]
  • Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk has English audio.
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Should you watch Tuesday?

Consider it if you want a performance-led drama willing to make grief strange, grotesque and fantastical. Louis-Dreyfus’s portrayal of Zora gives the film an emotionally recognizable anchor, while Petticrew and the talking bird keep the story from becoming conventional. Its premise is not a promise of easy catharsis: the film’s unsettling imagery and shifts in tone are fundamental to how it approaches death.

Quick Recap

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Bestseller No. 4
Mortdecai [DVD] [2015]
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Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk has English audio.
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