The plot of the film takes place in the family of a future mother of many children, who is faced with the already familiar life difficulties. Marlo takes care of the children on her own, she doesn’t ask for help. However, the strength and patience of a woman are on the verge, she is mentally exhausted.
The meaning of the film “Tully” will be understood by every family that is faced with the daily routine and dramatically changed lifestyle after the birth of a child.
So, Marlo is on the third decree. She already has a daughter and a son. She is a very responsible mother and bears the possible difficulties of motherhood with dignity. So far, the youngest son has an unusual disposition, but Marlo is extremely patient with his antics. She tries to keep herself under control so as not to break out on her children. After all, she knows that education is an extremely difficult task and requires titanic work and indulgence in some ways.
On the eve of the birth, Marlo, with her husband and children, comes to dinner with the family of her wealthy brother. Here you can clearly see the contrast between the tortured mother of two more children and the brother’s wife, who already has many children, but looks just fine. In a conversation, the brother offers to give Marlo a night nanny for the birth of a child. She will come at night and take care of the baby so that parents can fully relax. Marlo, who is raising two children on her own, considers it unacceptable for a strange woman to take care of her child and, of course, refuses. It seems that she does not even allow the thought that someone else can take her child in her arms. And maybe she’s just ashamed to admit that she might not be able to cope.
After some time, the third daughter is born and Marlo’s life changes dramatically. Constant children’s crying at night, quarrels and cries of older children. Plus a husband, who also can not be forgotten. Of course, he devotes time to the children – he helps them do their homework, but he does not offend himself either. He runs away on business trips, relaxes with a joystick in his hands before going to bed.
Marlo faces another problem. At the preparatory classes for her son, the headmistress asks to transfer the boy to individual education, since with his behavior he interferes with the rest of the class. Poor Marlo knows that he needs a little more attention than the average guys. And she, for her part, is trying her best not to deprive the older children of maternal love. It would seem that the teacher should understand that Marlo is now in an already difficult period. But she is relentless. Maybe, for the better, the son is transferred to another school, where there is a completely different attitude to what is happening.
A mother of many children tries to do everything by herself, but she is so tired that gradually even her patience ends and she seems to be ready to resort to the services of a night nanny.
And so, late in the evening, Tully comes – a very young girl. In theory, how could she know how to hold newborns? However, having crossed the threshold of the house, Tully is very reverently engaged in a girl and even surprises, it would seem, an experienced mother of many children in some way.
Over time, Marlo realizes that their nanny is just perfect. It turns out they have so much in common! It would seem that with the birth of a child, most of the childless friends in the life of every woman gradually move away. And Tully is still a girl, at an age when everyone is carelessly passing their time. But at the same time, she is so understanding about Marlo and her entire family.
Every night, Tully opened up a new side of herself, helping Marlo do something around the house. The husband was happy with everything and it did not even occur to him to meet the girl who was nursing his youngest daughter. The wife is happy and for him this is perhaps the most important thing.
Tully helped to understand that Marlo had forgotten about herself. She forgot that, first of all, she is a woman. Like most moms. They are ashamed to admit that their own children are sometimes annoying. That you often want to talk about something else besides the first complementary foods, childhood illnesses and going to school. That sometimes you want to calmly watch your favorite series or movie, and not for the hundredth time scroll through cartoons about princesses, monsters or animals.
Any mother just needs to be in silence, alone with herself. And it doesn’t matter what she will do – just lie down, go for a manicure or do some household chores. For mom, this is a kind of rest, when no one pulls her every minute, does not ask her to play with dolls or cars.
Towards the end of the film, Tully and Marlo decide to unwind and leave for a bar in the middle of the night. There, the nanny announces that it is time for her to leave, she must move on. Where to next and why so abruptly? Why can’t you just be with Marlo a little more and support her when it’s so important? Of course, Marlo takes this news hard, it is not easy for her to let go of her ideal assistant.
On the way home, a car accident occurs, in which Marlo miraculously survived. In the hospital, the doctor explains that the woman is in a very difficult mental state, she has lack of sleep and exhaustion. The husband is perplexed – although he had never seen the night nanny, but with her appearance, Marlo changed for the better and came to life.
“Tully”: what did the director want to say?
Charlize Theron’s performance makes the meaning of the movie “Tully” obvious. Motherhood is not only licked pictures on Instagram. In the photo on social networks, mothers are always with make-up, hairstyles, manicures and enjoy motherhood with might and main.
In Tully, an example of an ideal mother is Marlo’s brother’s wife. There are three children in this family, a nanny. And the mother always looks like a model from the cover of a glossy magazine. She sympathizes with a tired Marlo, recalling that “it was not easy for her to go to the gym in the 9th month either.”
This kind of social pressure is exhausting. Perhaps Marlo would feel better if she heard something like: “We also had a hard time with the third, if anything, send the elders to us, let them play together.” But society is set differently: “Are you complaining? So you can’t do it. Why did you give birth then?!” And mother is left alone with her experiences and problems.
Remember the aunt who told the pregnant Marlo about the dangers of caffeine? Invaluable advice is ready to give everyone you meet. But ask about difficulties, listen without judgment or offer real help… There are usually fewer such enthusiasts. In the film, an example of an adequate response to difficulties with a child is a teacher at the new school of his son Marlo. Thanks to his teaching experience, in two minutes he helped the family cope with a problem that could turn into a long tantrum. Agree, this is more useful than just quitting “you need to watch the children.”
No matter how many times a woman becomes a mother, she always needs support. Otherwise, everything will turn out like Marlo did: you want to look good, make your family happy with something delicious, don’t forget about your husband … But physical exhaustion and emotional burnout win. You don’t always have enough strength even to approach a crying baby in time. Then stupid TV shows become an outlet, because nothing more serious than the brain is no longer able to digest.
First of all, help should come from the family. Marlo’s husband sometimes works with the elders, but in general, with the birth of the baby, his life has not changed much. He also spends evenings in bed with a joystick and video games. For many months he manages not to notice that his wife does not look good, does not take care of herself, and cannot cope with the children and the household. He is not embarrassed that an outside woman, whom he has never seen, sits with his child at night. After several months of working as a night nanny, he had no desire to get to know her.
“Tully”: the meaning of the ending?
But this initiative could save the situation. Father would have found out that there was no babysitter… And probably would have persuaded Marlo to see a doctor. After all, all the symptoms clearly point to severe postpartum depression with a psychotic episode.
“Tully” shows us how deaf we can be even to the closest people. The husband of the main character loves her, he has no thoughts of betrayal. He didn’t mean anything bad, he really thought everything was fine. And Marlo didn’t ask for help. She quietly suffered inside herself, never once demanding attention, a day off, personal time. In their family, it is not customary to speak frankly about experiences, to replace each other if someone needs time to reboot. This happens if a woman takes care of the house and children alone for a long time. And when there is no strength left, she does not know how to ask for a little care for herself. She just doesn’t know how to do it.
So it turns out like in this film: in order for the people around them to understand how difficult it is for mom, she must get into a car accident, almost die, and then … Only then will someone be seriously worried about what is happening.
The movie ends on a positive note. Marlo’s hallucinations stopped. Her husband seems to have woken up and is again ready to protect his beloved from everything, as at the very beginning of the relationship. Even the problems with the eldest son begin to be resolved, as soon as the mother recovers a little. But was it necessary to die for this? Maybe just talking would work?
