Cinema from the Spectrum

A whole lot can be expected from a movie whose title is simply Nightbitch, because it’s a title that’s set to grab your attention off the bat. When you sit there and eventually find out what exactly this movie is about, then it only makes sense why a filmmaker like Marielle Heller would be drawn to this material. To her credit, she’s trying the best that she can in order to commit to the weirdness that you would expect for a movie whose conceit is built around an overworked mother who sometimes turns into a dog. But it never really lives up to that promise, let alone that provocative title either.

Amy Adams stars as an unnamed stay-at-home mother married to an unnamed husband (Scoot McNairy), raising a toddler (Arleigh and Emmett Snowden) within the suburbs. Because her husband is frequently travelling for business, it seems like she’s always left to take care of their son day in day out, which only leaves her exhausted by the end of a routine that never feels like it will meet that end. Soon, this manifestation of her own exhaustion and lack of time for herself results in canine bodily transformations which may be an opportunity for her to make up for lost time. It’s a conceit that easily allows for some otherwise bizarre imagery, one that allows Marielle Heller to explore the world of motherhood infused with magical realism too.

Yet this also might be where Nightbitch seems to fall flat. It’s a movie that tries to balance two vastly different approaches in order to come down to the same ideas with regards to motherhood. But the two never properly coalesce with each other, and it seems like one movie gets shoved away in favour of the other. At times you’ll have some very funny commentary present about how demanding motherhood actually is, especially if one is left to raise a child while the father is often absent – but there’s no real mesh between the genres that are being explored here. Instead, it just feels like two separate films competing to have more time in the spotlight.

Whatever few body horror elements come through, at least hint at a sense of the absurd – and it’s a very adventurous direction for Marielle Heller given her three previous works: The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. It feels like this is a moment for her to convey how angry she is at the ways that motherhood would ultimately leave people going wild upon their exhaustion. Disappointingly, the introspective nature of Nightbitch seems to come at odds with the weird body horror elements. And unfortunately, it never really seems to let those elements shine through either, given how tame the film’s content ultimately is on that front.

There’s at least something to be admired in the commitment that Amy Adams brings to this role, because it feels like a very lived-in role. Even as Adams embraces her wild side, there’s a whole lot of energy coming forth and it’s the sort that the film needed to unleash more of. But given the very messages which Nightbitch is circling back to, whatever absurdities feel too few and far in between. It also seems to work against how evidently committed to this role Adams shows herself to be, for this is a genre that is unfamiliar for writer-director Marielle Heller, but props to her for trying to branch out of her usual genre.

Given the film’s title, the most disappointing thing about Nightbitch is how it never truly reaches incendiary territory. It feels like Marielle Heller is trying to tease you all throughout, especially with the occasional sprinkle of dark humour into this concept of motherhood. But it never really lets up on that promise, and at most, just ends up falling flat. There’s a great film that could have been made out of this premise too, but it also leaves me wondering if this text might also have limited Heller from going as crazy as one could hope. It feels like all bark and no bite.

Watch the trailer right here.

All images via Searchlight Pictures.

Directed by Marielle Heller
Screenplay by Marielle Heller, based on the novel by Rachel Yoder
Produced by Anne Carey, Marielle Heller, Sue Naegle, Christina Oh, Amy Adams, Stacy O’Neil
Starring Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Arleigh Snowden, Emmett Snowden, Zoë Chao, Mary Holland, Ela Thomas, Archana Rajan, Jessica Harper
Premiere Date: September 7, 2024 (Toronto)
Running Time: 98 minutes