Film
Tallulah
A drifter played by Elliot Page stumbles into the life of a wealthy, unhappy mother and leaves with her toddler. What unfolds is a strange, tender road movie about motherhood, redemption and found family—funny and melancholy in the same breath, grounded by two magnificent performances from Page and Allison Janney.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like prickly, character-driven dramedies where unlikable people are observed without being excused, and you enjoy Allison Janney playing a sharp, brittle mother.
Skip it if you need likeable protagonists or a cosy comedy, since nearly everyone here is selfish and the mood stays uneasy and sometimes bleak.
What it asks of you: Just under two hours, with a slow build and awkward scenes allowed to sit rather than hurried toward a payoff.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Juno2007
Indie comedy-drama with a pregnant teenager at its centre, sharp dialogue, genuine heart, and a willingness to find humour in serious situations without undercutting them. Ellen Page was luminous in this; same energy here.
But Some find the quirky sensibility dated now, and the film's cuteness occasionally gets in the way of its substance.

Olive Kitteridge2014
Miniseries with Janney at her finest, portraying a prickly woman whose hardness masks devastating loneliness. Quiet, observant, heartbreaking. Shows what Janney does best: reveal the ache beneath the armor.
But It's slow and austere. If you need plot momentum or dramatic payoffs, this won't provide them. It sits with sadness.

Lady Bird2017
Character-driven indie about a young woman and her difficult mother, balancing comedy and genuine pathos. Greta Gerwig's screenplay finds grace and humour in family dysfunction without sentimentality.
But If you want plot over character observation, or a mother-daughter story that resolves neatly, look elsewhere. This is lived-in and messy.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Tallulah
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Wendy and Lucy2008
Both follow a woman without resources navigating maternal devotion and survival. Both find grace and dignity in constraint rather than melodrama. Both are about how love persists in the margins.
Kelly Reichardt's film about a woman and her dog driving toward Oregon, then stranded in a small town with nothing. It's Tallulah stripped to absolute essentials—two characters, economic fragility, unexpected tenderness. Hypnotic.
But Barely any dialogue, no plot arc, and a bleakness that doesn't lift. It's about the texture of precarious life, not the drama of it. Some will find it depressing and slow to the point of inaction.

More like this (8)
The Florida Project2017
Sean Baker's story of a mother and child living hand-to-mouth in a motel, shot with warmth and humanity. Never condescending, filled with genuine joy alongside precarity. Quietly devastating.
But It's about poverty, and that's always uncomfortable. The child's safety is never guaranteed, which creates a low hum of dread throughout.

Moonlight2016
Three-act character study following a boy across his life, exploring identity and connection. Intimate, poetic, told in images and silences. One of the finest films about becoming yourself.
But The pace is glacial and the plot minimal. If you need plot, drama or clear narrative arcs, this will feel like nothing happens.

Tiny Furniture2010
Lena Dunham's debut about a directionless young woman living with her mother after returning home. Uncomfortable comedy-drama about aimlessness, art and family. Raw and genuinely funny.
But It's deliberately awkward and you're often cringing at the protagonist's choices. The naturalism can feel self-indulgent, and some find Dunham insufferable.

The Road2009
Cormac McCarthy adaptation about a father and son navigating a destroyed world. Bleak and devastating, but also an intimate study of desperate parental love. Viggo Mortensen gives one of his greatest performances.
But It's relentlessly dark and slow. There is virtually no hope or relief. Watching it is an emotional ordeal, not an entertainment.

The Deep Blue Sea2011
Terence Davies film about a woman in post-war London grappling with desire, loneliness and her place in the world. Visually gorgeous, emotionally intricate. For those who want cinema as mood and texture.
But It's deliberately paced and abstract. The narrative is internal and sparse. Some will find it ponderous rather than contemplative.

Tangerine2015
Shot on iPhones in LA's transgender sex worker community, this film has raw energy, humour and real characters. It's vital, loose and alive in a way most indie dramedies aren't.
But The handheld aesthetic is aggressive and can be taxing. The story is loose and plotless. Some find the energy exhausting rather than exhilarating.

In the Mood for Love2000
Both films trust visual language and stillness to convey emotional truth. Both centre characters who are quietly desperate—one restrained by social constraint, one by circumstance. Both find beauty in what isn't said.
Wong Kar-wai's ravishing film about two neighbours who discover their spouses are having an affair. It's about loneliness, restraint, and yearning expressed through colour and space rather than action. Visually intoxicating.
But There is almost no plot. The film moves at the pace of glances and silences. If you need narrative drive or dialogue-heavy character development, this is pure style over story.

Rampart2011
Both examine parenthood and love as complicated moral facts. Both have characters struggling with who they are versus who they're trying to be. Both refuse easy answers about whether love can redeem damage. Rampart is Tallulah's shadow—what happens when you don't learn.
Oren Moverman's brutal character study of a corrupt LA cop (Woody Harrelson) destroying everything he touches. Darkly funny, ugly and precise. Shows the other side of caregiving—the person who poisons everything near them.
But Harrelson's character is genuinely repellent and only gets worse. There's no redemption arc, no comeuppance that satisfies, no tidy resolution. It's deeply cynical about human capacity to change.

People
Cast
Elliot PageTallulah
Allison JanneyMargo
Tammy BlanchardCarolyn
Evan JonigkeitNico
Uzo AdubaLouisa Kinnie
David ZayasDetective Richards
John Benjamin HickeyStephen
Zachary QuintoAndreas
Felix SolisManuel
Fredric LehneRussell
Maddie CormanVera
Jasson FinneyTennessee Bar-Goer
Directing
- Sian HederDirector
Writing
- Sian HederWriter
Production
- Ged DickersinCo-Producer
- Charlotte UbbenExecutive Producer
- David NewsomExecutive Producer
- Eleanor ColumbusExecutive Producer
- Elliot PageExecutive Producer
- Chris ColumbusProducer
- Russell LevineProducer
- Todd TrainaProducer