‘Tully’ Early Buzz: Charlize Theron Stuns In Another Stellar Jason Reitman/Diablo Cody Collaboration

Diablo CodyandJason Reitmanare something of an indie dream team. The duo’s first collaboration produced the sharply funnyJuno, which became one of the most over-quoted films in the last decade, and helped catapult Cody and stars Ellen Page and Michael Cera to fame. While their second film together, the bleak and sardonicYoung Adult, didn’t quite permeate pop culture likeJuno, it established the duo’s easy, whip-smart rapport. EnterTully, the third collaboration between Cody and Reitman starringCharlize Theronas a worn-out mother on the eve of giving birth to her third child. The film premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival to positive buzz, with many critics calling it the duo’s best collaboration yet.

Below, see some of the early buzz forTullyfrom the Sundance Film Festival.

The Hollywood Reporter’s John DeFore praised the film as a biting look at motherhood that balances its bleak outlook with moments of sheer humanity:

Star Charlize Theron gives another career-best performance according toVariety’s Owen Gleiberman, channeling a ferocity into her dejected parent character that we last saw in her iconic performance as Furiosa inMad Max: Fury Road:

Theron’s performance is fearless, emotionally raw, and physically intense, rippled with embattled waves of exhaustion and anger. After her infant daughter, Mia, is born, Marlo is still carrying her baby weight (the way that mothers in movies almost never do). But more than that she’s carrying the weight of the world. Theron gives a heroically unglamorous and knife-edged performance, lashing out in ways both big and small. She lets us see how doing so makes perfect sense for a woman who is starting to feel the act of giving life — and sustaining it — draining the life out ofher.

WhileThe Guardian’s Amy Nicholson praised the film as “a marvellous movie about a struggling mother saved by a millennial Mary Poppins,” she criticized the film for its flat, on-the-nose third act:

Toward the end, the script can’t resist hitting its metaphors too hard, leading to a scene where Marlo drives an hour to pound on the door of her old loft while Tully yells that their adventure has already gone too far. Yet, despite a plot twist that falls flat, the otherwise light-fingered film leaves space for life in the margins.

TheMary Poppinsmetaphor comes up again in David Ehrlich’sIndiewirereview, where he callsTullyaDiablo Cody/Jason Reitman joint that’s funnier thanJunoand almost as ruthlessly honest asYoung Adult:

Think of it as Diablo Cody’s modern take on “Mary Poppins”: What it lacks in songs, it more than makes up for in sex scenes and Carly Rae Jepsen sing-alongs. Funnier than “Juno” and almost as ruthlessly honest as “Young Adult,” Cody’s third collaboration with director Jason Reitman is a razor-sharp movie about the trials of motherhood, and the clear and present danger of losing yourself once you start living for someone else.

On Twitter, critics also offered effusive praise forMackenzie Davis’star-making performance as the titular Tully. Others called it the best Reitman/Cody collaboration yet.

I’m prettttttyyyyy dang sure Mackenzie Davis is going to win an Oscar in the next 10 years. She’s an extraordinary actor, always getting better and better. And she’s perfect in Tully.pic.twitter.com/gvezmyF1QV

— Alex B. (@firstshowing)July 23, 2025

Tully’s pretty damn good. Reitman and Cody’s take on Mary Poppins. Very charming, funny and a great turn for Charlize Theron as the struggling mother of three at the center of this story.

— Eric Vespe (@EricVespe)July 08, 2025

I quite liked TULLY, an astute look at the way it really feels to have children. Parents will feel like Reitman and Cody are giving away our secrets. Non-parents will call it “unrealistic.” They will be wrong.#Sundance18

— Drew McWeeny (@DrewMcWeeny)July 23, 2025

Young Adult. Now Tully. My 2 favorite Jason Reitman films are written by Diablo Cody & star Charlize Theron. Tully is a wonderful, deeply empathetic ode to mothers, new & otherwise. Thankful for a female screenwriter, willing to make screen heroes out of everyday women!#Sundance

— Tomris Laffly (@TomiLaffly)June 26, 2025

Close call w/ YOUNG ADULT, but TULLY may be the best overall film from@JasonReitman& Diablo Cody. It’s simply terrific, with another excellent performance from Charlize Theron. If you’re a parent, you’ll probably appreciate it even more. It doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff

— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider)June 04, 2025

Tullyis set to open in theaters onApril 20, 2018. The film also starsMark DuplassandRon Livingston. Here is the plot synopsis from Sundance:

Academy Award–nominated director Jason Reitman returns to the Sundance Film Festival for the sixth time, having previously debuted four shorts and one feature at the Festival, while Academy Award–winning screenwriter Diablo Cody makes her Sundance Film Festival debut withTully, a funny, moving, and insightful look at motherhood that features captivating performances by its two female leads.