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Nov 18, 2016 · “Nocturnal Animals” is a work of exceptional, undeniable craft, but it’s also a movie that’s meant to stick to you a little bit. Indeed, so vehement is writer/director Tom Ford in articulating his vision at times that you think he’d be disappointed by a viewer that wasn’t at least a little bit angry with him over the movie.
A successful Los Angeles art-gallery owner's idyllic life is marred by the constant traveling of her handsome second husband. While he is away, she is shaken by the arrival of a manuscript written...
- (302)
- Tom Ford
- R
- Amy Adams
Nocturnal Animals is a dark, dense, and beautifully crafted thriller with a killer ending that will stick with you long after it's over. Full Review | Oct 22, 2021
Nov 17, 2016 · “Nocturnal Animals” is rated R (under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for visceral violence. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes.
- Tom Ford
- Manohla Dargis
- 116 min
- A gorgeous and grotesque portrait of a relationship gone wrong.
- Verdict
By Alex Welch
Posted: Nov 18, 2016 12:15 am
In 2009, writer and director Tom Ford surprised audiences and critics everywhere with his directorial debut, A Single Man, which featured a stunning lead performance from Colin Firth and seemed to indicate the beginning of a promising filmmaking career from the world-renowned fashion designer. Then for some unknown reason, it’s ended up taking seven years for Ford to return to the big screen, with yet another star-studded and beautiful outing in Nocturnal Animals, a revenge tale about a seemingly fairytale romance torn apart by the past selfish mistakes of its characters.
Amy Adams leads the film as Susan Morrow, a successful art gallery owner living in Los Angeles, who one day is sent a manuscript in the mail from her ex-husband, Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal). Dedicated to her, Susan reads the novel and begins to see the thematic parallels between Edward’s story about a man seeking revenge for the murder and rape of his wife and daughter and their marriage that fell apart almost two decades earlier.
Structurally, Nocturnal Animals is an absolute marvel because to be completely, utterly honest, it shouldn’t work. With this story, Ford not only has to follow Susan during the present day, but also show us the beginning and end of her relationship with Edward in the past, in addition to the story written in Edward’s novel. Possible pacing issues aside (which Ford manages to nimbly avoid), there’s a danger of making one of the storylines more interesting than the other, and therefore throwing Nocturnal Animals completely off balance. Whether he spent the past nine years perfecting this script or not, his hard work has paid off in spades nonetheless, and Nocturnal Animals manages to never show a personal favor towards one storyline over the others - making each of them feel equally important.
By showing us the book storyline, which opens with one of the most tense and disturbing sequences I’ve seen in recent memory, and exposing us to the dark, almost sadistic nature of it, we can’t help but be curious to know what it is that Susan did to cause Edward so much pain. Especially since, in the initial flashbacks to their past, they seemed like a perfect pair, her being the pessimistic and self-conscious realist, and him an ambitious dreamer with the hopes one day of being a great writer. Luckily, Ford’s explanation behind Edward’s ultimate sadness and the reasons behind the couple’s divorce makes more than enough sense when it’s revealed, and manages to carefully ride the line between being pulpy and exaggerated in its own way, without ever falling into melodramatic territory.
Despite some of the stylistic flaws, Nocturnal Animals is an impressive second film from writer-director Tom Ford. It balances its powerhouse performances and breathtaking visuals with an expert eye, all leading up to what can only be described as a complete and utter gut punch of a finale.
- Alex Welch
Dec 9, 2016 · Nocturnal Animals: Directed by Tom Ford. With Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. A wealthy art gallery owner is haunted by her ex-husband's novel, a violent thriller she interprets as a symbolic revenge tale.
Nov 18, 2016 · San Diego Film Critics Society Awards. • 1 Win & 11 Nominations. An art gallery owner is haunted by her ex-husband's novel, a violent thriller she interprets as a veiled threat and a symbolic revenge tale.
