Nightbitch stars Amy Adams as a mother who is so full of rage about her loss of identity it makes her feral and she starts turning into a dog. It’s weird and there is nothing I can say to make it sound less weird – she grows a tail! Extra nipples! – but it’s actually a more regular and less wild story than you might have imagined. In other words: once you get over the dog, it’s fine(ish). If you can’t get over the dog, forget it.
It is directed by Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood) and is an adaptation of the novel by Rachel Yoder. Growing up in a Mennonite community, Yoder saw how her mother had to sacrifice herself and swore that it would never happen to her. But then, one day she realised here she was, with a baby and a husband and she hadn’t put pen to paper for two years. (I learned this by reading an interview with her.)
Adams’s character, who is only ever called ‘Mother’, has a two-year-old son. She also hasn’t worked since he was born but had been a fishmonger with her own shop and everything. I’m kidding you. She was, is, an artist and gallerist. (Always an artist and gallerist, if not a war reporter; never a fishmonger.) This does not take us into We Need To Talk About Kevin territory. She has bonded with her son but the routine (breakfast, playground, ‘book babies’) is killing her and she’s lost all sense of self. Who is she now? As her husband (Scoot McNairy) had the more lucrative career it had been decided that she would be a stay-at-home mum.
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