Nocturnal Animals
Nocturnal Animals
R | 18 November 2016 (USA)
Nocturnal Animals Trailers

Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.

Reviews
2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
craysellers The excessive privilege of Susan's world of artists and entitled people is a beautiful cinematic experience. If the story stayed at that level this would be a masterpiece. When she receives a copy of her ex-husband's book, she sees his metaphor for how and why she left him, and what it felt like through his eyes. We see the mother's warning about romanticizing someone who will never be the man she wants him to be. Her guilt over succumbing to social pressure, that's what she can't forgive about herself; that's what she says, but her actual relationship with Edward doesn't bear it out. Her mother was right. She's in love with the man she wants Edward to be, but Edward - the real Edward - the man she's disappointed in and exasperated with? They have a boring, unfulfilling relationship and she wants out. The movie isn't honest about this detail and it's too important to ignore. She claims, later on, to have really loved him, and her claim is convincing. Even the husband she left Edward for, he cheats on her and she knows it, but she gets him because she has more respect for him as a man. If the director (Tom Ford) didn't mean to show that, it's incompetence. If her relationship with Edward was love, that's not shown, and Ford took a hard swing at it and missed.
mikeburnsbristol An absolutely shallow attempt at trying to make a deep movie. Complete waste of time.
chiguy17 I read most of the reviews before watching the film, and assumed it was just a bunch of uptight people from "flyover" states. I was wrong. I watched this because Tom Ford did such a great job on the aesthetic beauty/cinematography and tenderness of "A Single Man"; assuming his follow up project would be similar (at least in style/taste). I could not have been more wrong. It was graphic and disturbing to the point that, had I not known Tom Ford had written & directed, I would have thought it was the product of a very disturbed mind. I still don't know what could have possessed him to imagine and write this. I don't know what the point of the opening sequence with the nude, morbidly obese "art show" was - it seemed like it was just for shock factor rather than any sort of artistic or body image commentary, given the fact Tom Ford made Colin Firth lose weight for "A Single Man". I don't want to get into any plot spoilers, but it made Law & Order: SVU look like a Rom-Com. I think the worst part is the sense of self-indulgence/self-importance of the film. There was an over abundance of drawn out "reaction shots" that just felt like a pretentious attempt at being artistic: Jake Gyllenhaal sitting naked on the side of the tub; Amy Adams inhaling overly dramatically long and deep while reading the manuscript (repeatedly). I really like Tom Ford and the bulk of his work (fashion and otherwise), but I hope that he either retires from filmmaking or once again embraces the thoughtfulness, sensitivity, and... "spirit" that made " A Single Man" such a bittersweet pleasure.
mbm_maria91 It was only after I saw an interview with the director, Tom Ford, that I understood the real theme of the film. And once you get that theme, believe me... you are going to love it. The goods are not going to look so good, and the weak are going to look powerful to you. If you want to know the theme keep reading, if not... don't worry I won't give any spoilers. Just a hint: remember the big painting, there is your theme. Don't miss this film.