NEW YORK, NY – MAY 03: Charlize Theron attends the “Tully” New York Screening at the Whitby Hotel on May 3, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
One’s about the intense pressures of motherhood, and the other explores the ramifications of refusing to grow up. Both showcase the raw magic of a Charlize Theron, Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman collaboration.
**This post contains spoilers for Tully.**
The highly quotable teen pregnancy comedy Juno — screenwriter Diablo Cody’s and director Jason Reitman’s first collaborative effort — garnered four Oscar nods (and a win for Cody). The film was a critical and commercial success and is a modern classic. Cody and Reitman’s latest partnership, Tully is, to put it mildly, a bit more controversial.
I can’t help but suspect that the film’s darkness is at least partially responsible for this — and it is dark. There’s no two ways about it. The main character, Marlo (Charlize Theron), is struggling to keep her head above water after the birth of her third child. Along with the newborn, Marlo has sweet but befuddled (read: useless) husband, two elementary school-aged kids (one of which with special needs) and postpartum depression. Tully is definitely funny — Theron is the master of the withering stare — but it’s no lighthearted romp.
Neither was the last Cody-Reitman vehicle Theron toplined, 2011’s Young Adult. In fact, it’s probably even more uncomfortable than Tully. The protagonist, Mavis, returns to her hometown on a mission to win back her high school sweetheart. If that sounds like standard rom-com fare, keep in mind that said sweetheart is now married with a baby.
So, yeah, a Cody-Reitman joint is as likely to be grim and uncomfortable as it is offbeat and motor-mouthed. If anything, Tully is just proof that Young Adult wasn’t a fluke.
Tully and Young Adult both explore the idea of fulfillment, or lack thereof
On the surface, Marlo and Mavis are very different: the former is a suburban mother, wife and HR rep. The latter is a divorced, city-dwelling YA author. (Yet they both have an affinity for trashy reality TV.) However, neither woman is satisfied with her life. At least, she’s living a life far removed from the one she grew up imagining.
For Marlo, this realization is a by-product of her postpartum depression. She admits to her night nanny, Tully (Mackenzie Davis), that she feels empty and she misses the person she was before marriage and motherhood. On paper, she has everything — a career, a husband and children — but maintaining it all is draining, thankless work. She fantasizes about walking away, and understandably so.
Mavis also feels like there should be more. She ghostwrites a teen book series and managed to leave the small town she grew up hating, but is plagued by the feeling that she has already peaked. She becomes convinced that to be her best self she needs to go back to her old life, particularly her former flame Buddy (Patrick Wilson). Mavis was happy in high school when she was with him, so she’ll be happy again if she wins him back. Right?