Marielle Heller made a splash in Hollywood with her one-two punch of Can You Ever Forgive Me? and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, but her latest project is a lot more disagreeable than that. Somehow both a massive swing and far too safe for its premise, Nightbitch is a massive disappointment, squandering a strong Amy Adams performance on a narrative that fails to keep viewers interested.
Nightbitch Review
Based on the novel by Rachel Yoder, Nightbitch follows a stay-at-home mom who spends day after day caring for her rambunctious toddler as she discovers that she — quite literally — may be turning into a dog. While this type of high-concept satire should be provocative, Heller’s film lacks the bite to truly connect.
Heller makes her themes abundantly clear from the first scenes of the movie. Motherhood is grueling and often painful — both literally and metaphorically. Of course, it’s not meant to discourage motherhood but rather inspire a deeper (perhaps newfound respect) for mothers and their challenges while making the “sacrifice” of being a mother. However, this in and of itself feels like a broken, near-misogynistic way of approaching motherhood and womanhood. We’ve come a long way to a point where women shouldn’t have to sacrifice their lives to be mothers. Why are we seemingly taking a step backward here?
Beyond the messaging, there is the issue of pacing. Nightbitch is incredibly monotonous to the point of being grating. That being said, the repetitive nature of the film feels clearly intentional. Heller wants to convey how exhausting the routine of being a mother can be, but in so doing, she creates a movie that feels exhausting itself. Sporadic funny moments are not enough to keep viewers engaged in the story.
It also feels like, in trying to convey its message, Nightbitch intentionally distances us from its characters. In a move seemingly meant to signify the characters’ lives being defined by their roles, the protagonist is simply named “Mother” and her husband “Husband.” Of course, this is an element taken from the source material, so some leeway must be given, but some aspects of written literature do not translate well to the screen, and this is one of them. It comes across as cold and unfeeling, not meaningful.
Nightbitch is most effective as a showcase for Amy Adams, who gives a very committed performance in the leading role. Granted, based on the premise, it sounded like this could be fodder for career-best work from the beloved actress, and this is not that. It’s just a very funny, impressively physical, and sometimes vulnerable turn from an actress with so much talent that it elevates the material.
The rest of the cast is very solid, even if they are playing to archetypes. Scoot McNairy is charmingly bumbling as the protagonist’s husband. Although he is often the butt of the joke in the film, he achieves his purpose. In supporting roles as some of the other mothers the protagonist encounters, Zoë Chao and Mary Holland manage to elicit a laugh.
Nightbitch also has some impressive technical elements. For the most part, it’s shot like a pretty typical post-2000s studio comedy, which is not what you would expect from someone who has shown as much visual panache as Marielle Heller. However, during the movie’s more surreal aspects, particularly the scenes in which we see Adams’s character physically transforming, the effects are noteworthy and give the film a much-needed burst of energy and personality.
Is Nightbitch worth watching?
Ultimately, despite Amy Adams’s strong performance, Nightbitch is pretty… ruff. With monotonous storytelling that makes its message too clear from the start, it’s difficult to enjoy this experience. Although audiences who can directly identify with the monotony of motherhood may find themselves more engaged, the movie will feel reductive and distant to most.
Nightbitch is playing at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 5-14.
Nightbitch TIFF Review — Amy Adams Gives a Strong Performance in Otherwise Grating Film
Amy Adams gives a good performance in Nightbitch, but the film’s repetitive and monotonous makes the experience of watching the film feel incredibly grating.
