Dir: Marielle Heller. With: Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Jessica Harper, Zoë Chao. USA 2024. 98min. English
Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood) and Amy Adams are a formidable pairing in this adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s prizewinning bestseller.
Mother (Adams) is completely defined by her relationship to her toddler. She’s stopped working and making art so she can be a full-time stay-at-home mom, but is finding the domestic routine stifling. She’s lost her sense of self, can’t connect with other mothers, and is increasingly struggling with anger. She needs an outlet, badly. And when it arrives, it does so from an unexpected place.
You have never seen an Amy Adams performance quite like this before: physical, animalistic and downright weird. Nightbitch is filled with provocative imagery and surreal moments, yet these are interwoven with some more down-to-earth observations about parenthood and identity. A daring dark comedy for mums everywhere.