Review of Nocturnal Animals (2016) by K Nife C — 28 Dec 2016

With "Nocturnal Animals" Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams, and Michael Shannon gravitated toward and elevate a film that somehow made it past the art house. A deftly executed parallel narrative structure confounds and frustrates the viewing, but what it leaves unsaid follows one for a long time after the theater.

I watched this opening week, but was reticent making up my mind in any capacity about it until I'd seen it again. In short, I think this is one of the best and most original films of 2016. The story within the story is probably one of the best explorations of vengeance on screen in years.

By it's conclusion, I can't help but feel that director/writer Tom Ford made this film with malicious intent. At some point, the conflict ceases to be between the characters and becomes a clash of artistry.

Adams' character thwarted Gyllenhaal's because she had no faith in his ability as a writer, she abandons him for a world of high-class, trash art. At a posh party with other "high-art' aficionados, Michael Sheen comments that "Our world is a lot less painful than the real world".

The gut-wrenching novel that Gyllenhaal's character writes for Adams is a direct parallel to the loss he suffers by her actions and insecurities. It might seem perplexing to see a slow motion collage of obese naked elderly women for the opening credits of the film, but it is an example of how derelict and exploitative her world has become.

As his novel unfolds in her mind, she comes to realize the emptiness of her world and how much she is everything she didn't want to become. Ford doesn't allow any survivors, and there is no redemption.

So, obviously it's not a feel good movie, but as a cautionary tale of sacrificing your love and dreams for some comfortable shell of existence, it is a blast.