History Film / Tully

* ActorAllusion: Mackenzie Davis who plays Tully also stars in the Black Mirror episode "San Junipero" where she plays a younger "version" of herself.

** [[spoiler: A big clue that Marlo is the same person as Tully begins at dinner, when Marlo uses an "evil" voice to joke about murdering the chicken while swallowing a big spoonful of mashed potato. The scene changes to that night as she's bending over to care for the baby, when Tully comes in and goes to the refrigerator, where she uses an "evil" voice to joke about ruling the world while swallowing a big spoonful of mashed potato. Tully goes to the cot and bends over to care for the baby, as Marlo goes out in just the same way that Tully came in.]]

** According to Charlize Theron, writer Diablo Cody pitched the movie to director Jason Reitman by saying [[spoiler: "What if you were going through something really hard in your life, and your younger self could come rescue you?"]].

** Drew needing very little convincing to have a three-way with Marlo and Tully. [[spoiler: That's because it was actually all Marlo and Tully was only a hallucination.]]
* FormerlyFit: Lampshaded, when Marlo takes off her shirt at dinner and one of the kids, staring at her large belly, asks her what was wrong with her body. She refused to answer because of, well, [[YouAreFat obvious reasons]]. Justified, since she has to lose a few pounds from prior pregnances.

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: After Marlo's car accident from her insomnia, Drew blames himself for not taking care of her and making sure she was doing okay. He promises her he'll try better.]]

* ImmodestOrgasm: Tully refers to this and encourages Marlo to have sex with her husband again, saying she'll wear headphones if they want to make some noise.
* {{Irony}}: Marlo's husband Drew, her brother Craig and her sister-in-law all comment that she looks so "awake" lately. In reality, [[spoiler: she was an insomniac]].

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Tully becomes a sort of platonic version of this for Marlo. [[spoiler: As she is essentially an idealized version of Marlo from when she was 26, this makes an odd sort of sense.]]

* MustHaveCaffeine: Marlo still drinks a decaf skim latte despite other cafe patrons concern about her being heavily pregnant.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Drew notices that Marlo has some moments that are extremely out of character for her, [[spoiler: one of which is drunk driving.]]
* OnceMoreWithClarity: [[spoiler: After Marlo's maiden name Tully is revealed, the scenes showing her cooking and doing various activities around the house are shown without Tully being there. Emphasizing that Tully never existed]].

** Marlo watches ''Barbie in A Mermaid Tale'' while going through postpartum depression.

** Sarah tells her mother Marlo that her face makeup makes her look like Draculaura from ''Monster High''.
** Sarah singing "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen during karaoke at a friend's birthday party.
* AThreesomeIsHot: ZigZagged. Drew requires ''very'' little convincing to have sex with the younger nanny he's never met while his wife watches. [[spoiler:His quick acceptance of this too-good-to-be-true scenario makes sense when we find out it was just him and Marlo.]]

** [[spoiler: When Marlo falls asleep at the wheel and ends up in the hospital due to the car crash, Marlo's husband Drew and the audience learn that all the extra activity accomplished at home have not been from the night nanny Tully]].
--> '''Dr. Smythe:''' [[spoiler: Does she have a history of mental illness?]]
--> '''Drew:''' No. Well...Okay, I mean I guess there was some pretty bad depression when our son was born, but I mean... It's completely different this time. She's been great. She's been amazing. And you know, her brother sprang for a night nanny, so she's been getting help, she's been getting sleep, she's...
--> '''Dr. Smythe:''' [[spoiler: Actually, we think she's experiencing extreme exhaustion and sleep deprivation.]]
** [[spoiler: During the scene where Marlo is in the hospital her husband Drew is answering questions for the receptionist. He was asked what Marlo's maiden name is and he answers "Tully"]].
--> '''Nurse:''' [[spoiler: What's her maiden name?]]
--> '''Drew:''' [[spoiler: “Tully.”]]

** Marlo tells Tully that she is too tired to bake cupcakes that look like [[WesternAnimation/DespicableMe Minions]].