From the first moment you see Nocturnal Animals, where obese women are dancing naked and in slow motion, it is clear that you are going to watch a movie that is different. Tom Ford (fashion designer, but also director) immediately opts for a stylized look at the life of Susan Morrow, the owner of an art gallery. She struggles with her emotions and her marriage with her husband also seems to fall apart. Then she receives a manuscript for a book by her ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) dedicated to her. She becomes obsessed with the book and the film shows the viewer both her world and the story of the book.
The book is about Tony Hastings (Gyllenhaal), who drives through Texas together with his family at night and get into a road rage accident with the occupants of another car on a deserted road. He is powerless when he is overpowered by the group and sees how his wife and daughter are kidnapped and he is left behind, alone. Together with the seasoned sheriff Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon) they try to find out where his family is and who is responsible.
The film is more complex than it might seem at first glance. The story in the book has a link with Susan’s life and the relationship with her ex-husband and can be interpreted in different ways. Is Tony her ex-husband or is the character based on her? What message does her ex-husband want to convey? The two worlds are closely connected and the end can also be interpreted in various ways (I personally went for one of the most extreme). It was only at the end of the film that I started to make the connections. As I watched, it occasionally bothered me that the story switched back to Amy Adams, because the story she read was so fascinating, but in the end it makes sense. It is a crime drama which is very well made that also deals with love that you’ll want to see a second time after seeing it because you can start making better connections between the various elements. Not a film that everyone will appreciate, but if you like some complexity then it is worth a look.
