The Parrot of Death. That’s a new one for me. Yes, PARROT. As in the colorful bird of tropical origin. Yes, DEATH. As in the Angel of Death. The Grim Reaper. The dark escort. The only dude holding a scythe in this century. That guy. Now a parrot.
I didn’t see that coming.
The question is if Tuesday saw it coming. Tuesday (Lola Petticrew) is terminally ill. Her time is up and The Parrot of Death has come for her. She seems unsurprised by any of it. The dying. The limitations. The parrot. I should point out here that aside from the power to end life forces, Death (voice of Arinzé Kene) holds one big trick – the ability to expand and shrink at will, like a glutton in Wonderland. 
So, you know, if Tuesday ain’t surprised at seeing a six-foot tall parrot who speaks English and has come for her soul, I guess we shouldn’t either.
Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is in denial. Sharp denial. Commanding denial. Usually to get denial this bad, you have to confront MAGAworld with facts. Zora has been doing everything in her power to avoid this moment. Heck, she’s doing everything possible to avoid her life. We don’t know if she works any more. She must have
held a job once. Now? She sells a set of taxidermy rats to pay for the home care nurse (Leah Harvey). Meanwhile, she goes to the park and takes a nap on the bench.
When Death allows Tuesday to phone her mom, Zora fails to pick up. That is the level of denial going on here
. Well, just wait until mom gets home and finds a big soul-reapin’ parrot in her daughter’s bedroom. Then there will be Hell to pay … and a few carpet cleaning bills, I imagine. What do you suppose the Grim Parrot eats?
For a truly weird film, Tuesday is pretty simple. Death comes for the girl. Mom says, “no.” That’s all that is really going on here. We get two very nice performances out of the leads, but this entire thing isn’t much more than a college play with special effects. I’m thinking that in the best version of this film, something, I dunno, might happen. Try that. In the meantime, I’m still freaked out by Death Parrot constantly downing “Eat Me” and “Drink Me” solutions. Hence, points for uniqueness if not for (literal) execution.
There once was a mother named Zora
Avoiding her daughter’s bleak aura
The Grim Parrot still came
And nothing could be the same
Because you can’t ever tell Death, “No more-a!”
Rated R, 110 Minutes
Director: Daina O. Pusić
Writer: Daina O. Pusić
Genre: Guess who’s coming to dinner?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Goths
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Pollyannas
