Nightbitch

NOW IN THEATERS! The loss of identity, sense of days blending together, anger toward your partner, and strong feelings of hopelessness and depression that can come from being a stay-at-home parent to a precious young child is a very real thing that I personally experienced during the pandemic lockdown. Writer/director Marielle Heller’s film Nightbitch, co-written by Arleigh Snowden and adapted from a novel by Rachel Yoder, captures those intense parental emotions in the most authentic way that I have ever seen on-screen. That is while blending the realism with the fantasy aspect of the protagonist literally becoming a dog at night as a mechanism in order to cope with it all.

The story revolves around Amy Adams, known as “Mother” in the movie, who puts her artistic career on hold to raise her son (Arleigh and Emmett Snowden). We see the frustration build in her as every seemingly small task becomes a huge chore (for instance, a simple paint-on-paper activity with her son turns into the paint all over the house). She has to do the same monotonous tasks—cooking, cleaning—every day and interact with people she normally wouldn’t if she didn’t have a child. The buildup from that, along with insufferable cluelessness and lack of support from “Husband,” played by Scoot McNairy, leads her to start growing strange hair and features at night until she finally becomes a female dog during those hours.

“Every seemingly small task becomes a huge chore… cooking, cleaning—every day.”

Adams went the Robert De Niro/Raging Bull route for this role, gaining weight to transform her body quite differently from what we’re used to. Her performance is also stunning in how real it feels. I tend to think of Amy Adams from The Muppets, blissfully singing and dancing, rather than angrily wanting to rip her husband’s head off for not allowing just a few mellow moments of not having to rear a child. The writers, Heller, and Amy’s outstanding acting job, which is one of the best by an actress this year in my opinion, brought me back to my own conflicted feelings of just how damn difficult it can be when you’re raising a child mostly by yourself during the day, but more importantly from a human level, comforted by the fact that I’m not alone in that pain.

The part of the film that is not handled so well is the whole dog matter. I get the symbolism and need for an outlet for the character, but the way that it is blended in feels clunky. The ending isn’t exactly fun either, but that is life sometimes. I applaud Nightbitch for its realness in most areas, I mean who hasn’t despised a children’s performer and the other parents who are into it, just like Mother in this movie? Overall, Amy Adams delivers the knockout punch that will leave you floored by just how close it hits to home.

Nightbitch screened at the 2024 Newport Beach Film Festival and the 2024 AFI Festival.