Review of Nocturnal Animals (2016) by Who A — 03 Apr 2018

Amy is at it again screaming "Gimme that Oscar, damn it!".

Nocturnal Animals is directed by Tom Ford, a fashion designer... Does he know how to design clothes? Gurl, yass! Does he know how to direct a movie. Surprisingly, yes! (Judging only from his two movies) When I saw A Single Man for the first time, I was quite struck. I happened to catch it on the telly and I became quickly captivated. Despite many flaws, there were a lot of things that spoke to me in ways I can't describe. I felt myself in the main character's shoes and I ended up having a desire to be him and to have such a relationship. In that sense, Nocturnal Animals is very similar to A Single Man, as I kept having an indescribable feeling of enthralment. Ford is a skeptic about the art industry which feels like a reflection of his distrust of his own industry, or better put, on the people that form it. From the first sequence, which has a tremendously effective and appropriate shock value, he establishes the unease maintained throughout the whole film. Amy Adams is composed and sophisticated in the role, Laura Linney has a brilliant but short performance and Jake Gyllenhaal just proves once again that he's one of the best working in Hollywood. The list does go on and on, being one of the best put together casts of the year. The structure may be the most interesting thing about the movie, as the story flickers between the actual plot and the novel she's reading. However, besides some scenes that are utterly bad edited and constructed, the movie is flawed when it spends too much time on the narrative of the novel, straying too long from the main character. Also, I feel that Ford wanted to say something that he didn't quite express with the whole picture. What he wants to say with the picture doesn't quite come across. Nevertheless, it's a film that manages to keep you on the edge of your seat rotating between over-stylized pieces of inner monologue and tense yet fictional background story. Ultimately, it's a movie you must keep watching.