Nightbitch Review: Amy Adams Delivers in Wacky Canine Comedy
You ever have that feeling where you’re trapped in your mundane life, and now you’re literally transforming into a dog? Yeah, me too. And so has the protagonist in Nightbitch. Amy Adams stars as a stay-at-home mother stuck in suburban life’s mundanity. She starts off normal, but audiences are quickly introduced to her disturbed psyche and everything running through her mind. Repetitive mornings of playing with toys, cooking hash browns and mac and cheese, and walking with her child take a toll on her. Before we know it, she starts to become a canine herself.
This is a very weird movie. It’s the kind of film that sells you based on the absurdity of the concept alone. Based on Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel of the same name, this film manages to be a perfectly acceptable dark comedy. This is a fascinating, surreal little character study that lets you sit with our protagonist. The things that get under her skin get under ours as well. Heller does an excellent job directing this movie from her perspective and allowing her transformation from human to dog be both literal and metaphorical.
Mother is uninterested in being friends with the other moms and does not seem to find much pleasure from their company or conversations. She’s a character very disconnected from reality, and Heller shows this in many ways in her screenplay. She has so many responsibilities as a mother, and we see how exhausting they are, which many moms may relate to. We see her impulsive thoughts, every little thing she wants to do so badly but shouldn’t. She suppresses all of her desires, sacrificing everything to maintain a facade of sanity in the world.
But that facade can only stay on for so long. Nightbitch contains a few body horror elements as she transforms; it’s very tame compared to another film from this year, The Substance, but it’s directed well. As she starts to turn into a dog, the tone becomes something fascinating. There’s something so twisted and darkly funny about the whole situation. Obviously, the premise is so outrageous that it’s hilarious to even talk about, but this movie embraces its tone. She speaks to herself, and she’s filled with self-pity and self-hatred. We hear a lot of her thoughts, and it works because her internal monologue is a mixture of depressing and funny.
Balancing tone is one of the most challenging tasks for a director and writer, especially when it comes to dramedies like this. Dogs keep showing up near her and her gradual progression is fascinating to watch. The fact that Heller directs some scenes like a lighthearted family comedy also adds another comedic layer to this film. While this movie is nowhere near the best work of Heller or Adams, their combined styles are interesting. You can tell this was a director-actor relationship with a lot of trust because Adams really goes for it in this role.
She’s an actress who can make you believe anything she says. Whether she’s playing Gisele, Lois Lane, or Louise Banks, you believe every word that’s coming out of her mouth. That’s why she can play a princess, a journalist, a linguistics professor, and, in this movie, a dog. When she says she’s turning into a dog, she plays it with so much sincerity that you buy it. This is one of her wackiest performances yet, and she’s getting the chance to shine bright and do something very humorous and physical.
Perhaps an issue with Nightbitch is how preachy it can get. There are scenes that are quite explicit in their themes of the challenges of motherhood. Although it may strike a chord with the target demographic, it can come off as a bit too on-the-nose with how clearly everything is stated. Some subtlety could have been helpful in delivering the themes. Furthermore, while this movie is definitely kooky, it should have committed to it more. There are a lot of crazy elements and scenes, but it feels like it was holding back just a little. Had the movie gone even further and deeper into the craziness of the premise, it would have worked even better.
Overall, Heller sticks the landing on a very original premise. Adams commands the screen in this role, which is funny in a way that she delivers with the deepest sincerity. There’s a palpable tension between her and her husband, played by Scoot McNairy. He has a rationale for being the way he is, even if we don’t always like him. Nightbitch is a wholly unique take on a mid-life crisis that somehow manages to be beautiful by the end of it. While it should have delivered some bigger laughs and bigger absurdity, it does just enough to get you on its side. It’s daring, has a lot of heart, and that’s all it needs.
SCORE: 7/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
Disclosure: ComingSoon received a screener for our Nightbitch review.
Source: Comingsoon.net