Review of Nocturnal Animals (2016) by Brandon W — 19 Jun 2017

Nocturnal Animals is directed and written by Tom Ford, and it stars Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in a psychological thriller about an art gallery owner that received a random package that is a story called Nocturnal Animals that's written by her ex-husband, and it tells about what the story is about.

I was curious to see this in the way that Tom Ford is the director, and I wanted to see his work as I haven't seen A Single Man yet, and I'm curious to see what his skills as a filmmaker is since he's usually a fashion designer that has his own business with his very own name in it.

With that said, this is quite a fascinating movie to watch. Amy Adams gives a complex performance that you started to understand why she's acting like that when the movie progresses, and she did an amazing job.

The same can be said for Jake Gyllenhaal as he's gives an emotional performance as a man in the story that has his own family killed by a bunch of people, and Michael Shannon too as I think he's the best part of the film because he's very entertaining to watch, and he's a very likable guy that wants to see justice done right, even if things don't go his way on it.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson was a bit of a surprise to me because I tend to see him give some performances that are one-note, but in this, he gave out his all, and is effectively creepy in this that there's one scene that scared the crap out of me as I didn't see it coming.

The plot has three stories, whether it be Amy Adam's character in the present day, the past, and the book that she's reading, and you understand where you're at, and it's not done in a pretentious way.

Knowing the fact that Tom Ford is a fashion designer, the costume designs look really pretty to look at, and the cinematography is quite well-shotted. The writing is also well done that you're quite interested in the characters, and the stories that are told in this film.

Whether you see this as a thriller or a character study on both Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal's characters, Nocturnal Animals is an amazing film that shows that Tom Ford can be a great filmmaker.