From Omeleto.
A mother cleans up after a party.
YOU’RE INVITED TO TUSCAN’S 5TH BIRTHDAY PARTY is used with permission from Lee Eddy. Learn more at https://linktr.ee/leeeddystuff.
Tabitha is a mother throwing a birthday party for her only son, Tuscan. She wants everything to be perfect, delivering the most joyful memories and maximum fun. But when the pony she’s booked runs away, the party spirals out of control, with one mishap piling up after another: guests vomit, the cake falls apart and meltdowns ensue from both kids and parents.
In the end, Tabitha is left with an intense feeling of shame and failure, which spirals into a larger breakdown over how much she’s given over to parenthood — and how far she’s fallen short of her expectations and the perfect picture of motherhood she sees elsewhere.
Directed and written by Lee Eddy, who also plays the lead role of Tabitha, this wild rollercoaster ride of a short drama charts how one innocuous birthday party for a beloved child transforms into a dark night of the soul for one overextended, hyper-perfectionistic mother. Leveraging a storytelling voice that’s both slapstick and thoughtful, it spins out from chaos into an unexpected hedonism before segueing into a moving, authentic study of modern parenthood.
Blending comedic mayhem with introspection, much of the initial storytelling is frantic at first, as we meet Tabitha in a post-party, anxiety-ridden state, trying to clean up the wreckage of the failed birthday party. There’s a deflated bouncy house, party decorations everywhere and Tabitha herself in bawling in the front yard. It’s a wild introduction to a woman trying to get everything done, take care of everyone, track down a crazy pony and grabbing a moment for herself.
Visually, the film is as colorful and bright as the party decorations that festoon Tuscan’s party; rhythmically, the editing is as scattered as confetti, with Tabitha taking and making call after call dealing with the mess of the party and the loose ends of her own life. As the film’s main performer, Eddy is raw, funny and wisecracking, making for some sharp, funny and highly memorable dialogue. What comes through is just how much expectation is packed into modern parenthood, managing irate parents, assuaging her partner and child, cleaning up the mess and trying to tend to herself.
It’s a lot of juggle in the best of days, but as Tabitha discovers even more mishaps beyond the "rabid pony," she reaches her breaking point. She realizes she’s a shell of the person she was "before kids," and while she’s mostly happily devoted herself to her love and care of her son, she’s lost herself along the way. At her most vulnerable, Tabitha’s deeply honest, sometimes ambivalent and wonderfully resonant soliloquy speaks to the social pressures of Insta-parenting, the performative nature of modern motherhood and how it costs parents and even their kids.
This revelation is the centerpiece of YOU’RE INVITED TO TUSCAN’S 5th BIRTHDAY PARTY, the unexpectedly moving destination after a rollicking journey that has fun with just what can go wrong when we chase perfection. But the wildly comedic antics are grounded by Eddy’s genuine vulnerability and resilience — which is also an act of bravery, considering the intense judgment that mothers especially can face from the outside audiences of social media. But the big heart of the film reminds us that many parents’ misadventures often happen out of intense love for their children, which we can sometimes forget in focusing on the picture it makes versus the experience it gives.
