Review by Sarai Lewis
Rating: 4.5/5
Have you ever read a book that really got to you, and it was stuck in your head for the rest of your day?
That's the story of Susan Morrow, a rich but troubled art gallery owner that receives a copy of a novel written by her ex-husband Edward, along with an invitation for them to meet for dinner during a visit to Los Angeles.
With her distant husband gone for a weekend business trip to New York, Susan starts to read the book, which is both dedicated to her and named “Nocturnal Animals”, after Edward's nickname for her.
Based on a 90's novel and adapted for the big screen and directed by Tom Ford (yes the fashion designer), the film follows not only Susan, but two other mysterious stories as well.
Nocturnal Animals is being deemed as a “dark and unforgiving” film, one of which I really enjoyed. I've always been one to like artful and borderline strange movies and this one delivered in a few different ways.
The performances of the actors and the visually striking scenes left you with so many questions and different potential interpretations of what you just saw and it was a really intriguing way to write the story.
Being called a “neo-noir psychological thriller”, Nocturnal Animals was such a psychologically tense movie, but it was very interesting and exciting to watch at the same time.
I left the theater with so many questions. Did Edward send her the book in an attempt to reconnect, was it some kind of revenge, or is there a a strange, even deeper meaning behind it?
I think my favorite part about this movie was the fact that each part of it (although hard to piece together), was so nicely done with the film, the colors, and the makeup and wardrobe. It gave such a luxurious and high end vibe to the movie and it was really satisfying to watch. It was a very visually compelling movie that considering the director, was very high fashion.
Although there were pieces of the story that were frustrating to be left empty about, I thought that the story had enough substance to not make you feel completely blank at the end of the movie.
The plot was one to contemplate. It left you wondering, “did I like it?”, “should I like it?” and “was it good?”. It left you with such a confusion that made it fun and interesting to try to piece the parts together in a way that was almost like putting together an elaborate puzzle and I liked that about it.
In closing, with a whirlwind of mystery and drama, Nocturnal Animals, although not a movie for all, was one that I would definitely recommend. It was just strange and dark enough, and I haven’t watched another story like it.