KSL Movie Show review: ‘Tuesday’ is a movie you need to experience for yourself

Editor’s note: This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom.

SALT LAKE CITY — If you’re familiar with A24 films, you’ll know they have a tendency to go for the raw, exotic, challenging types of material. Sometimes, it works incredibly well; other times not so much.

Here of late, they produced the Best Picture Oscar winner, “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

They did this year’s “Civil War” and they did two of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen with “Hereditary” in 2018 and “The Witch” in 2015.

They’ve also made some really off-the-wall stuff like “The Lighthouse” in 2019 and “Beau is Afraid” last year.

What I’m getting at is. A24 will surprise you, sometimes shock you, but rarely bore you.

I think “Tuesday” falls into that category.

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At its essence, “Tuesday” is the story of a mother and daughter confronting death. 

Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a troubled mom who has no idea how to cope with her dying daughter Tuesday (Lola Petticrew). 

So she spends her days away from the house, pretending to be going to work, but mostly sitting in a park, reading, crying and snacking.

She’s hired a nurse, Billie (Leah Harvey), to spend the daylight hours with Tuesday, but the guilt and pent-up frustration is taking its toll.  

Here’s where it gets a bit wacky.  

Death is personified not as the typical grim reaper, but as a dingy, weary scarlet macaw with a deep, haunting, gravelly voice and an intense anxiety over the many voices of the soon-to-be departed ringing in his head. 

It’s his job to show up in those final moments of life, spread a wing over the dying and give them rest. 

And so he shows up at Tuesday’s. 

She knows why he’s there but distracts him with a joke about a car full of penguins, to which he surprisingly laughs heartily.

Also suddenly, the voices in his head have subsided and so he’s able to relax and spend the afternoon with the delightful Tuesday, singing rap songs, taking a sink bath and sharing stories. 

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Throughout this experience, he manages to change sizes to fit the situation —yes, that was probably unnecessary to the story but it was still oddly cool.

Eventually, Death agrees to wait until Tuesday’s mom gets home, but when she does finally arrive, things go dramatically sideways. 

This is the point at which A24 earns its reputation. 

I could try to explain what you’re about to witness but. one, you wouldn’t believe me, and two, you really need to experience it for yourself. And that will be a challenge. 

A couple of things — Julia Louis-Dreyfus has never done anything like this with so much range and complexity. It’s her best work ever. 

Lola Petticrew is right there with her.  Plus, the conversations about death and potential aftermath are deeply moving and dare I say, upbeat?

I get the feeling that “Tuesday” is going to have an either love or hate relationship with its audience.  I personally ended up much closer to the loving side. 

TUESDAY (B) Rated R for language. Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lola Petticrew, Arinzé Kene and Leah Harvey. Written and directed by Diana Oniunas-Pusić in her full-length feature film debut.  Filmed in the United Kingdom. Running time: 111 minutes. 

The KSL Movie Show with Andy Farnsworth and Steve Salles airs Fridays on KSL NewsRadio from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Follow the show on Facebook, and join The KSL Movie Show Club for exclusive perks by texting MOVIE to 57500. Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to cancel. Message frequency varies.