“This is the number one rule for your set
In order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets
And through our travels we get separated, never forget
In order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets” – Jay-Z
The lead up to the release of Nocturnal Animals was accompanied by a wave of hype. I’d heard nothing but great, not good, things about this film for months and it has been one of my most anticipated of the year. As I walked into the theater to watch it, I was slightly worried that it may not be able to live up to the hype. I was wrong, it completely did and vaulted into my #2 slot for 2016 as of the time of this writing.
The first thing that stands out about the film is how stylized it is. Obviously directed by a fashion designer, the clothing worn by the characters really pops and the cinematography is lush. The plot is also well done with a lot of subtext about being haunted by loss. It’s three stories in one film and they’re woven together perfectly.
The cast is stellar. Amy Adams is her usual self while Jake Gyllenhall is brilliant. I finally got the big deal about him. There’s been 0 Oscar buzz for him but he’s the best lead I’ve seen so far this year. Michael Shannon was dope as usual and cemented his place as one of the best working actors in Hollywood. I haven’t seen Aaron Taylor Johnson in anything before but he was very good as well. The scene where we first meet his character on the highway is the most tension filled scene that I’ve seen so far this year as well as the one of the best acted and best overall, period. He, Gyllenhall, Isla Fisher (who plays the fictional wife Laura Hastings), and Ellie Bamber (who plays their fictional daughter India) are all dynamic in it. I’m almost apt to recommend a viewing of the film based on that scene alone. I’ll be on the lookout for him now in future films.
The film has a controversial, subjective ending where, upon finally agreeing to meet again after more than a decade apart, Edward stands up Susan on their reunion dinner. My interpretation of the ending is that Edward used his novel as a metaphor to talk about the anger he felt at losing his wife and child, and how he had become consumed with gaining revenge on those that took them from him. But in the end, he realized that taking revenge, would only end up consuming him in the end (which he used Tony’s death to represent). He stood up Susan at the end because, he had overcome his need for closure over what they had. He was free from it all. Whereas Susan was consumed with her own loss (as was made obvious by the parallels shown between Susan and the fictitious Tony throughout the film), loss of Edward and of what her life could have been had she stayed with love and not gone for the bourgeoisie lifestyle she had been raised and browbeaten into desiring by her mother. Susan was destined to “die” due to that obsession with righting the loss that she suffered, just as Tony had in the fictional story. She has become a nocturnal animal; lying awake at night, sad, miserable and full of regret, longing to walk again along a path that she has lit on her fire. I would be remiss if I didn’t also point out the alternative views many have offered, one being that sending Susan this riveting novel is itself an act of revenge. She left him because of her disbelief in his writing ability and he proved her wrong with the novel. The other theory is that his no show was actually an act of revenge. He left her hanging and wondering and that ambiguity was a way to get back at her. In my opinion, the best film ending are subjective ones that each person can decide for themselves and debate with other viewers. Nocturnal Animals definitely hits that mark here.
Tom Ford also utilizes allegories and symbolism in the film to great effect, something I’m a sucker for in films (see my Batman v Superman review). During a pivotal scene where Susan and Edward first start to clash in their marriage, Susan is sitting on a red couch. In the fictionalized, metaphorical story written by Edward, Tony’s dead wife and daughter are found on a red couch. When Susan ends things with Edward in real life, she does it in front of a public display of a green GTO. The car driven by the rednecks that terrorize Tony and his family is….a green GTO. I should also mention the opening credits which feature a large, obese woman dancing fully nude. The scene made a lot of people confused and uncomfortable but it too had a point. Ford explained on a podcast with Jeff Goldsmith that the women dancing nude represented a freedom that Susan didn’t have. The women are completely free from the societal expectations placed on them, what beauty is, and conventional norms that limit them and their actions. The ladies then appear as sculptures during a gallery sale being held by Susan, selling the one thing she doesn’t have due to her choice to leave the struggling artist Edward and go off with the rich man Hutton, freedom. The use of makeup also serves as symbolism for how the idyllic, facade of a life that Susan has built for herself gradually comes apart when confronted with her regret of the past. Susan wears a lot of makeup and as she delves deeper into the novel, the makeup starts to wear and come off more and more. These sort of rewarding easter eggs for viewers are what makes film great.
Nocturnal Animals received mixed reviews but in the end, I found it’s story, subtext, and performances worthy of high praise. The examination of the pressure to live up to outside expectations and the effects on one’s happiness is prescient and a good dive into something that affects many throughout our culture today. As is the look at something every human being has experienced and will experience in their lifetimes, regret and dealing with the fallout of making a wrong choice. While I do wish that Amy Adams had been given a little more to do rather than just serving as a visual parallel with the fictional story, the overall plot, performances from the actors, and cinematography far outweigh any negatives. Nocturnal Animals is one of 2016’s best.
Image: Focus Features
