Marielle Heller’s adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s novel Nightbitch is a perfect vehicle for star Amy Adams.
With Marielle Heller’s fourth film, a form and style in the director’s filmography has begun to take shape. Films that showcase the power of its star over any plot or story. Be it true life accounts like A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood with Tom Hanks performance and Can You Ever Forgive Me? with Melissa McCarthy or fictional ones The Diary of a Teenage Girl with Bel Powley. Each film takes priority of character above all else. Now with Nightbitch, Heller has refined those specific for Amy Adams and the results are a film that has much to say but with the lightest of touches.
Nightbitch based on the novel by Rachel Yoder is an insightful look at the anger and frustration that a woman feels when her agency is taken away from her because she’s birthed a child. That anger and frustration are taken in the form of our central character turning into a dog at night to roam free with other dogs. Though adroitly the conceit and story never fully morphs into its genre trappings ala Mike Nichol’s male counterpart Wolf. Rather these moments expound on Amy Adam’s character’s plight stuck in a suburban purgatory and her soul’s unwillingness to concede her agency.
Heller’s film running a brisk 98 minutes (with credits) streamlines Yoder’s novel into the most direct and lean piece of ponderous character study of recent memory. There’s something brilliant about Heller’s softly forceful direction and collaboration with editor Anne McCabe and cinematographer Brandon Trost. Heller manages to find a way to tell the intimate story with a brevity that never feels like it isn’t anything but fully realized. McCabe’s editing is the sort of subtle balancing act of tone that wins awards. Trost and Heller create a visual language that’s always evolving as the character changes.
Though the centerpiece of the film is Amy Adams’s performance. Simply credited as Mother, Adams takes an unfettered unglamorous approach that feels as specific as anything the actress has done. However, in that specificity, Adams finds a universality that everyone (both female and male) can relate to. There’s always been an openness to everything Adams has done as a performer that allows you to connect to her characters. As Mother, it’s the sort of high-wire act that manages to be funny, emotional, angry, and all-around satisfyingly powerhouse. All done with the lightest of touches that adds to the marvel of it all.
Nightbitch is truly a wonderful film that affirms Marielle Heller’s strength and prowess as a director and Amy Adams as one of the great actors working today.
Marielle Heller’s adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s novel Nightbitch is a perfect vehicle for star Amy Adams.
With Marielle Heller’s fourth film, a form and style in the director’s filmography has begun to take shape. Films that showcase the power of its star over any plot or story. Be it true life accounts like A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood with Tom Hanks performance and Can You Ever Forgive Me? with Melissa McCarthy or fictional ones The Diary of a Teenage Girl with Bel Powley. Each film takes priority of character above all else. Now with Nightbitch, Heller has refined those specific for Amy Adams and the results are a film that has much to say but with the lightest of touches.
Nightbitch based on the novel by Rachel Yoder is an insightful look at the anger and frustration that a woman feels when her agency is taken away from her because she’s birthed a child. That anger and frustration are taken in the form of our central character turning into a dog at night to roam free with other dogs. Though adroitly the conceit and story never fully morphs into its genre trappings ala Mike Nichol’s male counterpart Wolf. Rather these moments expound on Amy Adam’s character’s plight stuck in a suburban purgatory and her soul’s unwillingness to concede her agency.
Heller’s film running a brisk 98 minutes (with credits) streamlines Yoder’s novel into the most direct and lean piece of ponderous character study of recent memory. There’s something brilliant about Heller’s softly forceful direction and collaboration with editor Anne McCabe and cinematographer Brandon Trost. Heller manages to find a way to tell the intimate story with a brevity that never feels like it isn’t anything but fully realized. McCabe’s editing is the sort of subtle balancing act of tone that wins awards. Trost and Heller create a visual language that’s always evolving as the character changes.
Though the centerpiece of the film is Amy Adams’s performance. Simply credited as Mother, Adams takes an unfettered unglamorous approach that feels as specific as anything the actress has done. However, in that specificity, Adams finds a universality that everyone (both female and male) can relate to. There’s always been an openness to everything Adams has done as a performer that allows you to connect to her characters. As Mother, it’s the sort of high-wire act that manages to be funny, emotional, angry, and all-around satisfyingly powerhouse. All done with the lightest of touches that adds to the marvel of it all.
Nightbitch is truly a wonderful film that affirms Marielle Heller’s strength and prowess as a director and Amy Adams as one of the great actors working today.
Nightbitch is only in theaters December 6th
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