Tallulah

The other day I decided to watch Tallulah (written and directed by Sian Heder) for the first time because I think Ellen Page is great and that’s about the only reason why. Also it’s a Netflix original and they seem to be quite good. Anyway, I’m going to write about it.

It's a fairly new film (having premiered only a few weeks ago), and in the 2016 fashion of making films that are actually about things other than men doing manly things, this film is about women (*trumpet sounds*), and sees Juno’s Ellen Page and Allison Janney reunited as a kind of mother and daughter-in-law duo. It also sees a mainly all-female cast, is directed by a real human woman (hurrah!), and every one of the characters is different. Ellen Page’s character, the eponymous Tallulah, is a carefree gypsy-esque youngster who lives in a van, and impulsively decides to rescue a small child. Margo, played by Allison Janney, is a mother and wife who has recently been abandoned by both husband and child, and is unsure of how losing both happened. Tammy Blanchard’s character Carolyn is a dissatisfied drunken mother who has never been alone with her child before until the night she and Tallulah met. The three become intertwined over Carolyn’s 1 year old, Maddison.

Page and Jenney looking the same age as they did in Juno, 9 freaking years ago.

The storyline’s fairly predictable, but that doesn’t matter – it’s predictable because it’s entirely plausible. Because of said plausibility, the scenarios and characters are incredibly easy to empathise with – which is impressive since the main story arc is wrapped around motherhood, and I have very little desire to be a mother. An objective point of view from someone who hasn't see the film, might find it easy to think it’s irritating (hell - even boring) that a film about women is also about motherhood, but it isn’t like *that*. The women aren’t defined by their motherhood. Certainly, the concept of what it is to be a mother – and a good one - plays a huge role in the film, but the character’s lives are not hinged by it. They feasibly exist without it, which is another reason why this film is actually quite excellent.

Heder’s writing effortlessly allows for the characters to be very real and show their dynamism. Tallulah at one point recounts the story about her own mother that led to her reckless lifestyle, and she divulges: “I think it’s better not to be needed”. The film’s full of moments like that one, yet it’s not cringe-worthy or cliché. Tallulah doesn't ask for anyone to take something away from the film - you can enjoy it as a piece of entertainment, or you can take what you want from it. Though there is something to be learned from both Page’s and Janney’s characters that is left to some degree for the viewer to interpret.

The film leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy. Again, objectively, the ending would seem kind of simple, but it doesn't matter how the film ends. What matters is how the characters feel. And, you get the idea that they're going to be okay, which is all you could ask for from an empathy evoking film. It's well shot, well directed, well acted, and well written. Apparently, the story is based on Sian Heder's experiences of being a babysitter, and I've found that it is always obvious when writers are writing about what they know about. Heder clearly knows what she's writing about, and that is all you could ask for. Anyway, it's a great film and I'll stop gushing over it now. It's been a while since I saw a film like Tallulah, and I hope it's not too long before I see another one.