Review – Nocturnal Animals

The opening shot of Tom Ford’s second feature film, Nocturnal Animals, is a shot of an older, 300-plus pound nude woman dancing in slow-motion as gold confetti falls from the sky against a bright red backdrop.  It is a beautifully shot image, yet an unsettling one to a degree, especially as it is the first thing we see in the movie.

This shot is what for Nocturnal Animals is as a movie.  Beautiful, yet unsettling.

Nocturnal Animals follows Susan Morrow (Amy Adams), an art gallery owner who is haunted by her ex-husband’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) novel, a violent thriller she interprets as a veiled threat and a symbolic revenge tale.

The movie is a story within a story with flashbacks.  It looks at Susan in the present, as she reads the novel and struggles with her insomnia and emotions towards her current boyfriend (Armie Hammer), her past relationship with her husband, Tony, and watching their relationship blossom and then fall, and we see the actual novel itself.  Ford and editor Joan Sobel put the film together in a way that never gives anything away, yet always keeps us intrigued.  The movie is like one of those Christmas gifts where you open one box, and there is another one inside, and then you open that one and it’s another one inside, and so on and so on, until the ending, and it’s the gift you always wanted.  You get more and more intrigued, and sometimes frustrated, as the movie plays out.  Why did Tony send Susan this book?  What is going to happen in the novel?  And then the ending happens and it is one that will have you talking for a long time after the credits roll.

Ford’s visual style is something to behold.  With lavish sets and eye-popping colors really make the movie a treat to see.  He does a great job juxtaposing the upscale, bourgeois lifestyle of Susan’s current life with the dirty, gritty backdrop of the book.  Ford’s visual style keeps the movie interesting during its slow moments.  That isn’t to say the movie is boring by any stretch, but it is a very meticulous, highly intelligent film that requires the slower scenes that add to the payoff at the end.

The performances in the film really keep the movie going in its slower times, as well.  Adams, who already has a spectacular turn this year in Arrival, is great, once again.  She wears the sadness and torture of Susan on her shoulders and in her eyes, making us feel empathy for such a cold person.  It’s unlike Adams to play a character like this, but she rocks it and adds to her great 2016.  Jake Gyllenhaal is superb, playing Tony and the main character in the story, Edward.  They are two completely different people, and Gyllenhaal makes both of them interesting.  Michael Shannon deserves awards consideration as the police officer helping Edward in the book.  And Aaron Taylor-Johnson gives easily the best performance of his career as the creepy, intense villain in the novel.

I saw Nocturnal Animals a few days ago, and my initial reaction was that it was a good movie, but missing something.  I am glad I waited a couple days to write my review, because it is a movie that I have been thinking about everyday since.  It is a haunting, unsettling, yet beautiful film with terrific performances and striking visuals.

MY RATING – 3.5/4

Did you see Nocturnal Animals?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook and YouTube by searching Kevflix.