Lola Petticrew plays the terminally ill title character in “Tuesday.” Kevin Baker/A24 Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The personification of death is not the grim reaper, nor a pale horseman, nor an Irish banshee, but a parrot. ‘TUESDAY’ 2 stars RATED: R.
Contains strong language. RUNNING TIME: 111 minutes AVAILABLE: In theaters. The parrot – all right, a macaw, if we’re being specific – can hear the voices of the dying and flies in to ease their pain, raising its wing over their faces the way a priest lowers the eyelids of the dead.
It can also grow to the size of a dinosaur or shrink to the size of a tick. The victims see this as perfectly normal, if a little alarming. This is the dramatic setup for a movie called “Tuesday,” and it’s to the credit of writer-director Daina O.
Pusic, a Croatian filmmaker making her feature debut, that she establishes the reality of this fantastical concept in the space of three eerie, elegant opening minutes. But then the rest of the movie happens, and it’s a bumpy ride indeed. The other thing you should know is that Tuesday is not a day in “Tuesday” but a girl: a terminally ill 15-year-old Londoner (Lola Petticrew) who hasn’t left her bedroom in weeks, if not months, and who is visited by the Macaw of Death early in the movie.
What’s unusual is that Tuesday doesn’t immediately recoil in fear but talks calmly to Death. Death, relieved to be able to have a conversation for once, talks back. The Nigeri.
