Written by Abby Chadwick. Photos by Ally Abruscato.
While interviewed on the red carpet, “Nightbitch” director Marielle Heller joked that this movie was “a comedy for women and a nightmare for men.” After seeing this film, I think she might have hit the nail on the head.
This film tells the story of a stay-at-home mom, played by Amy Adams, who has found that she has lost her identity as an artist, a creative, a woman and essentially as anything outside her role as a mom. The next two hours of the film showed her journey in trying to get that part of herself back. “Nightbitch” tackled universal themes in an extremely unconventional way, with Adams’ own personal passions and identity being represented as this dog that she has the ability to morph into at night. It is only through this transformation where she truly feels free.
It would make sense for this film to have its central message muddied by the plot of this woman-to-dog transformation. However, it seems to only make these themes stronger. It leaves audiences asking important questions like “How is it possible to hold on to the person you once were when your entire life now feels dedicated to shaping the person your child will be?” and “If this tiny person is such a massive part of you, how much room is left for yourself?”
One of the most literal forms of irony I have ever experienced occurred during the screening of this film. A pivotal scene occurs in the latter half of “Nightbitch” in which Adams is being shut down by her on-screen husband, played by Scoot McNairy, after explaining how she feels like her role in their home has turned into that of a 1950s housewife. The women around me, aged between 18 and 80, gasped and whispered-shouted “No!” every time McNairy flipped the blame on Adams, going as far as to call her “not the woman I married.” Meanwhile, the man next to me softly snored his way through this scene, and (may I add) the majority of the movie.
This is not to say that this film is not “for men.” To say that may be even directly opposite of its point. Especially with all that’s been happening in the current political scene, this topic of reducing women to their role as mothers is extremely prevalent. As a daughter to a mother, and as someone who could one day be a mother herself, this film felt really important. This idea of feminine identity, not separate from one’s motherhood, but in conjunction with it, is so wildly overlooked and underrepresented, and Heller’s application of it to screen is unlike anything else.
Amy Adams receiving the Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival
Abby Chadwick is District’s Chief Social Media Strategist and an interior design major at SCAD. She has been involved with District since her freshman year, with this year being her third as an editor. Apart from her role at District, Abby can be seen around SCAD walking to and from Clark Hall and enjoying the Savannah coffee scene. (Her go to is an espresso tonic, if you were wondering!)
