Amy Adams Goes Feral in 'Nightbitch'

By Sara Clements | Film | September 20, 2024 |

By Sara Clements | Film | September 20, 2024 |

Marielle Heller has always had a singular, nuanced vision when it comes to the characters in her films. Whether the characters are fictional or based on real people, she captures them through a relatable lens in all their complex contradictions. Her humanistic eye always keeps her films grounded, even as they display a variety of potent emotions. Her latest film is no different.

Based on the novel by Rachel Yoder, Nightbitch follows a stay-at-home suburban mom who finds her life taking a surreal turn when she thinks she’s changing into a dog. On paper, it may seem like an out-there premise, but in a culture consumed by an Instagram-filtered image of motherhood, it’s refreshing in its unique, raw vision of how motherhood really is. In all its ferocious weirdness, both Heller and star Amy Adams capture this character with sincerity, warmth, and humor. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t fully embrace its horror elements, and its feral energy may often feel like an awkward mix with its otherwise patient take on female rage. Still, Nightbitch proves to be not only a potent take on motherhood but turns out to carry a relatability far beyond that.

“It takes a village to raise a child” is a common proverb, but in reality, no one is raising that child but one person. This is especially true in Nightbitch, as we follow a woman trying to stay sane in the monotonous reality and isolated environment that befalls stay-at-home moms. Referred to as “Mother,” her name being her new role represents how this phase of her life is essentially her whole identity. There’s your life before and after a child. In her life before, she was an artist. In her life after, she can’t put paint to canvas because her entire world revolves around her son. She takes him to play groups with put-together happy moms she doesn’t want to be around because they represent everything she’s not. Mother is miserable, exhausted, and can’t remember when she last showered or the last time she washed her clothes.

Because she “should be grateful,” she can’t say or do what she really wants to. The film’s editing is a highlight because it places similar scenes together, but she gives two different responses to the situation. One is hilarious in its brutal honesty, and another could be a mommy blogger’s Instagram caption. The editing also puts together similar scenes of her and her son to emphasize the difficulty of the everyday as a mother whose husband is never around. Her internal thoughts underscore one thing especially: Mother no longer knows who she is. Slowly, as her home and life increasingly feel more and more like a prison, she begins to notice physical changes in her body: sharpened canines, abnormal hair growth, a craving for raw meat, and more. Eventually, in a journey of self-discovery, she finds happiness and freedom for the first time as she embraces an untapped feral nature.

Loving your child but hating motherhood is a conflict that Heller captures with an honesty that we often don’t see. Mother is a character whose transformation presents a rawness in its unglamorous truths, with Adams delivering a beast of a performance. Being transparent about the difficulty of motherhood and the toll it can take is one thing, but the film’s embrace and presentation of humans as animalistic feels refreshing, as Mother’s primal urges and fierceness not only capture a reclamation of self but also the protective nature of mother’s towards their children.

With Nightbitch, Heller also succeeds in creating a relatable experience beyond motherhood. It can also resonate with those who have ever felt isolated. Whether that’s feeling alone in a new city, for example, or going back to how we all felt during the pandemic. Homes becoming prisons, the repetitive nature of everyday life, or feeling like we don’t know who we are anymore, are enough to make anyone go crazy. Motherhood is a bitch - and so is life.

Nightbitch will be released in theaters on December 6.