Charlize Theron’s understated performance is a tour de force

ANCHORED by two phenomenal performances from Charlize Theron and Mackenzie Davis, Tully will have you laughing and crying.

NO DOUBT you’ve heard that Charlize Theron put on 25 kilos for a role in her new film Tully. Last time she did that, she won an Oscar for her efforts.

But the weight gain is far from why Theron is so mesmerising as Marlo, a mother-of-three struggling to balance the chaos of her household with her “quirky” son and the arrival of a new baby.

The raw, honest and darkly hilarious Tully is a reunion of sorts for Theron, director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody — all three had previously made the uncomfortably caustic Young Adult in 2011. Reitman and Cody were also the team behind Juno.

Reitman and Cody bring their fresh voices to a subject in dire need of it — motherhood and all the toils, expectations and judgment from randoms in cafes who think you shouldn’t even have decaf because of the “trace amounts”.

Marlo is drowning. She’s a week out from her due date when her son’s school tells her that her “out of the box” kid needs one-on-one attention. Her well-meaning husband Drew (Ron Livingston) is there but he’s not really present.

With vague references to “what happened last time”, her brother Craig (Mark Duplass) offers to pay for a night nanny, someone who’ll come in the evening and look after baby Mia so Marlo can sleep and rest. At first reluctant, Marlo acquiesces after a meltdown in the car.

Tully (Mackenzie Davis) turns up like Mary Poppins, if Mary Poppins was a twenty-something in boyfriend jeans and a midriff tank. Tully is like a mythical creature — warm, joyful and incredibly efficient. She cleans the house, bakes cupcakes and disappears before the sun rises.

A bond like no other.

She tells Marlo that she’s not only here to look after Mia, but also to fix Marlo. Soon, the older woman confides in Tully, seeing in her something of her own youthful follies and optimism. The two form an almost primal connection, and Marlo’s life improves in every aspect.

The reason Tully works is because of the sparkling chemistry between Theron and Mackenzie — it’s natural, authentic and you feel like you’re watching two friends who have known each other forever. The movie makes you want to spend time in their company, and that’s largely due to two amazing, fearless but understated performances.

Tully takes a left-hand turn towards the end but the film has done so much groundwork in the lead-up to it, it feels earnt and not cheap.

There’s a battle waging in pop culture over depictions of motherhood, ranging from the unrealistic mums in laundry detergent commercials to the raucous ones in B ad Moms. Tully has been marketed with the tagline “see how the mother half lives”, and while it’s a clever and wonderfully composed film, it doesn’t represent motherhood as a whole, nor is it revelatory to anyone with an ounce of empathy. Tully is also about much more than that, almost a treatise on self-identity and the challenge of holding onto who you think you are or who you used to be.

A remarkable story of one experience, it’s a highly watchable movie anchored by two phenomenal actors.

Rating: ★★★★

Tully is in cinemas now.

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