Nocturnal Animals is so deeply affecting, so deeply disturbing, so deeply beautiful and yet so deeply violent, once you watch it, you will be thinking about it for many days to come.
The impossibly elegant and highly restrained Susan (Adams) receives the manuscript for a novel written by her ex-husband Edward (Gyllenhaal). The pair have been divorced for many years and that the novel is dedicated to her has Susan intrigued and very worried. Susan did something horrible to him…. is this retribution?
[x_pullquote type=”left”]Tom Ford holds it all together beautifully and you never feel lost or confused. [/x_pullquote]Inline images 1What follows is a story within a story. Susan appears to be living the life so many dream of and yet she is desperately unhappy. Married to a handsome businessman Hutton (Hammer) and the Director of an important art gallery, she feels guilty because she has everything, yet she cannot shake the ever-present sense of unease. As with every character in this movie, it was what lies beneath that tells the true tale.
As Susan begins reading Edward’s manuscript, the novel comes to life and we are witness to a violent and troubling scenario. The novel is set in the vast desert plains of West Texas and the juxtaposition of Susan’s life and the life within the novel is jarring from the opening scene. What plays out in the desert is bloody, violent and scary but is it any more scary that what is playing out just beneath the carefully maintained veneer of Susan’s world?
Susan is the epitome of uptight elegance in this movie. She is all style, class and grace to the world but inside, she is a mess. She is also an insomniac so it is in the dark depths of the night that she reads her ex-husband’s story and slowly but surely unravels. We see her relationship with Edward in flashbacks that also intertwine with the story in the manuscript.
With so many connecting parts, the potential for disaster is great but the director, Tom Ford holds it all together beautifully and you never feel lost or confused. It is perhaps a touch over stylised but the more I think about it, the more I am convinced this is very deliberate.
Adams and Gyllenhaal are wonderful and definite award contenders. And rightly so. This movie hinges on Adams and she delivers a beautifully restrained Susan. There is nothing about her that I did not respond to and this could be her year.
If you want to watch a disturbing yet visually gorgeous movie that will f*** with your mind, this is the one. It is so awkward to watch and yet you cannot….should not …..turn away.
4 1/2 stars
