Review by Brad Balfour
Film: “Nightbitch”
Director: Marielle Heller
Cast: Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Arleigh Snowden, Emmett Snowden, Zoë Chao, Mary Holland, Ella Thomas, Archana Rajan, Jessica Harper
For lack of a better word, the feature “Nightbitch” is one bitch of a film. It forces one to rethink assumptions about what happens in becoming a mother. Amy Adams adriotly plays the character — only known as Mother — who gets unhinged as she finds herself tumbling down the deep shaft of perpetual mothering. Having been a vibrant artist, this stay-at-home mother starts losing her grip on reality while settling into mom-hood.
And her husband (Scoot McNairy) is no help at all. Often going off to work, he’s not really giving his all to playing his part in parenting. When home, he interrupts her rare quiet moments (in the shower for example) to announce, “We’re out of milk.” She fantasizes telling a former colleague the truth about how she feels — “I’m stuck in a prison of my own creation, angry all the time, afraid I’ll never be smart or happy or thin again.” Instead, she gives the answer that’s expected — “I love being a mom.”
Though her sweet-faced toddler (played by blond twins Arleigh and Emmett Snowden) pulls heartstrings, one feels the drag as Mother endlessly makes the same kid-friendly meals, does stinky laundry and tries to avoid the more together-looking moms at the library’s story hour. Though the women eventually bond, Mother clearly feels something is missing.
Her domesticity takes a surreal turn as she starts believing she’s turning into a dog at night. While becoming a mother transformed her into a more primal version of herself, he next step emerged with her growing canine identity. As Adams’ character begins to notice odd things — strange hairs growing on her body, an enhanced sense of smell and a growing appetite for meat — she thinks she can only escape through her new-found furry friends who she bonds with in the park at night. This progression finds viewers silently cheering when she barks at her pretentious grad-school friends. Ultimately, Mother finds herself through it all.
The film prompts a strong reaction given its magical realist twists and turns. A wholly unconventional horror story, it incorporates genre tropes as a device to tell deeper truths. Though motherhood has been the subject of many movies, none have examined it with quite this twist.
Based on Rachel Yoder’s acclaimed debut novel, director Marielle Heller’s meditation on motherhood and identity has been building a following since was first released in early December. Given that its premise seemed a bit absurd, even preposterous, it’s taken a while to generate an audience and critical response but now that’s going to stream on Hulu, it should gather even further reaction — especially because of Adams’ performance.
Despite some tentative moments in the film’s direction, “Nightbitch” is a triumph for the award winner. Her comic timing brings a physicality to the performance as well. As a mother, she’s harried; as a dog, she’s vibrant. And as an artist, she’s awake and alive. Given that the 50-year-old has had her own experiences with parenthood she inhabits this part and brings an authenticity to it. Adams is fierce throughout.
But is her new found motherhood such a horror? Well, obviously the transition from selfhood to mom-hood has been around since time began and women have made the transition under much worse conditions than what Adams’ character has suffered. But giving voice to that experience within a contemporary framework, Adams deftly illustrates the trauma it can be for modern women who have career and ambition as a consideration as well. Earlier generations didn’t necessarily contend with when the role of women and motherhood was strictly defined. And then there’s the partner — the male one in particular — who is expected not to consider their parenting responsibilities as an afterthought. This film truly take to task the partner who taking motherhood for granted.
While it may seem a bit offbeat, or even too much, “Nightbitch” archly conveys its message — that mothering can indeed put a bite on life and the mind.
“Nightbitch” streams on Hulu starting December 27th, 2024.