Ever since The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) made a splash at the Sundance Film Festival, Marielle Heller has continued her career by making films that straddle the line between appealing to more arthouse audiences while also having something you could show to your parents.
Ironically enough, her latest outing Nightbitch — a film about motherhood and relationships — seemed like it might fare farther away from that tightrope act. After all, it is based on Rachel Yoder’s deeply psychological and deliciously distributing 2021 novel of the same name about a woman who’s convinced she is turning into a dog. But here, festival favorite Heller successfully crafts a film much easier to digest than expected.
Amy Adams gives it her all as the untitled mother (eventually the self-titled “Nightbitch”) who feels like she’s given up on all her ambitions as an artist. She spends nearly all of her time as a stay-at-home mom with her toddler while her oblivious husband, portrayed by the always reliable Scott McNairy, travels to beautiful hotels for work. It’s when Nightbitch starts looking at her body on lonely, sleepless nights and notices strange hair growing that she suspects a feral transformation is underway.
Even if Heller’s take on the story doesn’t have nearly the same voracious bite as its source material, nor the visual consistency of her previous work, Nightbitch still manages to be a complex exploration of motherhood and a refreshing take on what it means to openly communicate in a relationship. Because while we are firmly in Adams’ perspective and with her all the way, we also come to understand her husband’s viewpoint and his lack of intuition.
As for the film’s tone — one of the biggest questions on our minds after a pretty underwhelming trailer — it manages to be surprisingly funny without ever cutting itself short or getting too campy. There’s never a doubt in the audience’s head that Adams’ character is, in fact, literally turning into a dog. Heller directs the film with a level of formality that allows us to connect with what Nightbitch is going through: both physically and emotionally.
One of the film’s most clever devices cuts between what Nightbitch is thinking in her head versus what the “polite society” thing is to say. This is where Heller opens the door for the film to ultimately explore what society pressures mothers to feel about themselves, which gets manifested into the “fake nice” conversations that Nightbitch has with the other mothers.
While some of the color grading and visual choices feel inconsistent throughout the runtime, Heller does make some meaningful additions that weren’t in the book. For one, the flashbacks the audience sees to Nightbitch’s own relationship with her mother (Kerry O’Malley) make the film’s themes feel more universal and generational. There’s also Norma (Jessica Harper), the librarian with an untold story of her own. This isn’t a story about one mother breaking free — it’s about all of them.
Nightbitch does suffer from some pacing issues that make it feel longer than expected, especially once it feels like the film has reached its climax multiple times in the third act. This is where Heller’s script could’ve committed itself more tonally rather than stretching itself to feel like a dark comedy, domestic drama, and thriller all in one.
It certainly could’ve gone deeper, especially in leaning into Nightbitch’s physical transformation, but any major doubts about the film’s worthiness based on the trailer or the premise alone should be discarded. Go along for the wild ride, see the brilliant choices that Adams makes and perhaps you’ll discover something new through the eyes of a dog.
Review Courtesy of Matt Minton
Feature Image Credit to Searchlight Pictures