Review of Nocturnal Animals (2016) by Lukehat — 06 Jul 2017

It began very powerfully. The moral situation portrayed stired something in me. Strangely, despite knowing this film is a story, when I found out it was a novel within a story, it took a lot of the feeling away towards the novel.

The film may have been too strong for people to stomach otherwise. A novel written by a character within a story enabled more character layers that is difficult to portray, and the relationship drama was enhanced signifcantly because of it.

I would probably be quite bored with solely the mainstory drama. So the two stories complemented each other well - one toned down the other in to a happy medium. That context i've never seen before. The ending I thought was also clever and had a few potential meanings.

My take on that different from other critics: I think Tony (Jake) is avoiding the pain of going/rejection and still being weak. He hasn't changed, and neither has she - (fancy restaurant). People don't change.