Movie · 2018 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 35m · R · English
Curator score: 7.1/10 (67.5K ratings)
See how the mother half lives.
Overview
Marlo, a mother of three, including a newborn, is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant at first, she quickly forms a bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging nanny named Tully.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.1/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Metacritic: 75
TMDB: 6.8/10
Director
Jason Reitman
Production
Bron Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance, Denver & Delilah Productions, Right of Way Films, West Egg Studios
Cast
Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston, Mark Duplass, Asher Miles Fallica, Lia Frankland, Elaine Tan, Gameela Wright, Tattiawna Jones, Stormy Ent, Maddie Dixon-Poirier, Bella Star Choy, Dominic Good, Joshua Pak, Colleen Wheeler, Em Haine, Marceline Hugot, Jess Tolon, Katie Hayashida, Steven Roberts
Curator Review
Verdict
A tender, bruised, and darkly funny portrait of postpartum exhaustion that uses a dreamy, slightly surreal frame to explore motherhood, marriage, identity, and the fantasy of escape. Charlize Theron anchors it with a raw, lived-in performance, and the film’s tonal shift toward revelation gives it extra emotional sting.
Best for
Viewers interested in motherhood stories that feel honest rather than sentimental
Fans of bittersweet dramedies with a touch of magical realism
Audiences who like character studies about burnout, marriage, and identity
People drawn to sharp, adult-oriented performances and emotionally messy family dynamics
Skip if
You want a straightforward comedy with consistent laughs
You dislike films that lean into metaphor and ambiguity
You prefer light, comforting parenting stories
You are looking for a fast-paced plot over mood and emotional texture
Overview
Tully is a postpartum pressure cooker disguised as a whimsical dramedy. It begins with the familiar chaos of sleepless parenting and domestic imbalance, then slowly reveals itself as something more reflective and more painful: a story about what motherhood costs, what women are expected to absorb, and how easily a person can disappear inside routine care work.
Worth noting
Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody keep the film light on its feet even when the subject matter is heavy. The script mixes bite, empathy, and surreal touches, while Charlize Theron gives the movie its emotional center with a performance that feels physically exhausted in the most convincing way. Mackenzie Davis adds a strange, luminous energy that keeps the film from becoming purely grim.
Bottom line
The ending reframes everything in a way that some viewers will find moving and others manipulative, but the film’s emotional honesty is hard to dismiss. It is especially effective as a conversation piece about marriage, labor, identity, and the fantasy of becoming someone else when your own life feels unmanageable.
Top Letterboxd reviews
maria (4.5★) · 1437 likes
first rule of mom club is: you do NOT talk about mom club to your useless excuse for a husband cause he would rather play fucking fortnite than help you raise your fucking kids, fucking pointless prick
mads (4★) · 1257 likes
Fight Club for mums
Lucy (3.5★) · 1119 likes
mackenzie davis cuddling a newborn baby made my womb ache
#1 gizmo fan (4.5★) · 908 likes
tully is infectiously sweet, dreamy, otherworldly. watching this with my mom made it all the better, crying into each others arms watching a world we both knew and dreamt of. life and motherhood are intertwined with love and dreams. tully is magic.
Ellie ✨ (4★) · 846 likes
for some reason i assumed her husband was mark duplass so when actual mark duplass showed up my world unraveled around me