Ellen Page is back; with Orange Is The New Black writer Sian Heder in a Netflix original film, Tallulah.
The film’s incredibly female oriented cast is an initial eye catcher—starring alongside Page is Alison Janney, Uzo Aduba, and Tammy Blanchard—who all have illuminatingly strong personalities on screen.
Tallulah portrays an endearing story about the connection of two strangers: Lu (Ellen Page), a nomadic young girl living in a van, and Margo (Alison Janney), a high maintenance divorcee who feels betrayed and abandoned by both her husband and son. Even outside of this focal relationship other feminine bonds develop that are linked in ways that revolve around the women’s sense of maternity; or in some cases, such as for Carolyn (Tammy Blanchard), the expectations and pressures of maternity.
The film depicts the vulnerability of women in various circumstances, and their struggles to overcome the loneliness of having to take care of themselves after having been left by a string of family and lovers. These characters are humanely imperfect, yet they actively fight to redeem the happiness and peace of not just their own lives, but also those of other women whom they encounter throughout the story. It is through the unexpected help of strangers, that these women learn to liberate themselves from the grief of their past, and appreciate the joy that they had been blind to because of it.
On Netflix and opening at the Village East Cinemas on July 29.
