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Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) is a wealthy and successful art gallery owner. She lives in a beautiful, albeit soulless house, with her handsome but aloof (and philandering) husband (Armie Hammer). She attends lustrous dinner parties, hosted by equally jaded people. Here’s the thing: Susan is miserable — almost suicidal. At least that’s what she and her friend imply during a conversation. But things reach a head when the past revisits her in the form of a manuscript. Her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal) sends her a review copy of his novel, due for publication soon, and a note stating that she was the “inspiration” behind the story. This is clear to her from the book’s title — NOCTURNAL ANIMALS. Edward used to call her a “nocturnal animal” due to her insomnia. And then there’s the story itself, and the main character named Tom. Though it bears no resemblance to their life together, Susan notices bits and pieces of the things that led to their divorce, and how he’s felt about it. The woman who plays his wife in the book (Isla Fisher) has an eerie resemblance to her, and Tom’s lamentations have a lot to do with what transpired between Susan and Edward in real life. She never believed in him, thought she was above him, and then she cheated and left him for her current husband. In the course of the book, one of the sociopaths represents post-breakup Susan. I won’t go further to avoid spoilers, only to say that she thought the grass would be greener on the other side. Is it too late to reconnect and make amends?
This is such a strange and unique thriller. The opening scene is so shocking — and so unconventional — that I almost stopped watching, but I’m glad I carried on. The strange opening scene is far from the only interesting thing in this film. This is a story within a story within a story, where you discover things through layers upon layers of storytelling from different points of view. We see the novel in action from Susan’s eye. Something sets this interwoven story apart from all the others — there’s no voiceover narrative. No one is telling you what’s happening. You just watch as if it were its own movie. This fascinated me. Edward’s novel is a noir-style southern thriller, and the book is bleak, shocking and twisty all the way to the end. In between scenes, we get snippets of Susan’s current life, from her estranged relationship with her daughter to the emptiness of her career life. We also get flashbacks of her life with Edward before and after they marry, and how their differences tear them apart. He’s a dreamer, she’s a realist. He knows he will be a successful novelist one day — and she doesn’t think he will go far. In this tragic love story, we realize that there must be a balance with realists and dreamers. You can’t be a “realist” to the point of becoming cynical and disillusioned. That’s how people quit their life goals and never feel fulfilled. On the other hand, you shouldn’t dream your life away. Dreams should come with action plans, realistic time frames, and attainable goals. You must also not listen to naysayers, because they will try to turn you into a skeptic like them. I’m a dreamer, but I make sure my dreams don’t stay dreams for too long. This movie resonates so much.
Trigger warning: some scenes are really hard to watch. It’s kind of witnessing a nightmare while awake. There’s lots of tension and shocking scenes. If you’re highly sensitive to apathy, cruelty and taunting, then I’d watch this carefully.
Now to the upsides and downsides. The cinematography is beautiful. You’ll never be confused with the different time frames and story shifts. As I said earlier, there’s no voiceover narrative in this movie, so the film fully relies on showing instead of telling. Amy Adams’s despondency is so powerful it jumps out at you. Jake Gyllenhaal’s heartbreak and disappointment shows through Edward’s novel. Downsides? Susan’s age. Twenty years had passed since her last contact with Edward, and they started seeing each other while she was in graduate school, which means Susan is now in her mid to late forties. Adams was about thirty-nine or forty when she filmed this, and she looks younger than her age, so they put a lot of heavy makeup on her to make her appear older, while giving her a natural, fresh-faced look in the flashbacks. No woman in her mid to late forties would ever wear blood-red lipstick and dark eye makeup. Why? Because heavy makeup ages you — duh! People that age are more likely to use “Young Susan’s” fresh-faced look, especially if you look young enough to pull it off. I get the symbolism behind Susan’s appearance, but I couldn’t get past this little attention to detail. My other complaint is how there isn’t enough Isla Fisher in the movie. She’s such a beautiful and talented actress. She’s also often confused with Amy Adams (and vice versa), which explains why they picked her for the part. Would have loved to see more of her.
That’s all I could think of. This is such a beautiful film! I love movies about books, with stories within stories, as my novels have this format. Another movie I love that’s like this is THE WORDS with Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana and Dennis Quaid. Another good story-within-a-story movie is THE GIRL IN THE BOOK with Emily VanCamp. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS is in a league of its own though. Excellent acting and directing! Tom Ford is miles ahead of most filmmakers. (Yes, Tom Ford, as in the elite fashion designer!) Five Caffè Americanos, with extra Crema!
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| Additional Blu-ray options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
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Blu-ray
October 15, 2019 "Please retry" | Blu-ray | 1 | $9.97 | $11.95 |
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Blu-ray
February 21, 2017 "Please retry" | Blu-ray + DVD + Digital | 2 | $14.95 | $3.39 |
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hella underrated. Crappy shipping though 😭
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. So I was stoked to add it to my collection. Unfortunately the packaging was damaged in transit. Now I gotta spend a bit more money to buy a replacement case. Buggers. Movie still sick doe. Kinda ironic the packaging is all messed up considering the heaviness of the movie 😂
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2019
- Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2017
Top reviews from other countries
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JEAN PIERRE GReviewed in France on September 16, 2017
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS : Un grand film
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