By: Keaton Marcus

I’ve decided to revisit some great films that I recently watched and didn’t have time to appreciate. Today it’s Tom Ford’s seductive thriller Nocturnal Animals, released in 2016 to certain critical acclaim. This film is just a tad shallow on the substance side, but in style and performances, it is a simply extraordinary achievement. Yes, it can feel pretentious at times, but that’s part of the experience. Featuring career-best performances from both Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, I was on the edge of my seat for every single damn minute. Now let’s do this thing.

So after a really odd, and quite disturbing beginning with plump, naked women dancing at an art gallery, we meet our main character, Susan Morrow. She’s a disillusioned art dealer living in a modernist house in LA with her handsome, wealthy husband Hutton (Arnie Hammer). Emotionally, they’re relationship is bursting at the seems. Then, seemingly out-of-the-blue, Susan receives a package containing the manuscript from her ex-husband Edward (Gyllenhaal). His unpublished novel is about a brutal assault of a family on the run from rednecks in rural west Texas ending with horrifying results. Yeah, explaining the plot without giving away spoilers is difficult, and it’s a mystery that readers will have to watch unravel themselves. But MY GOD it’s a damn good mystery.

Hot damn I love so much about this movie. For starters, the cinematography by Seamus McGarvey is quite impressive, and this film is one of the most stylish, sexy-looking movies I have ever seen. The crisp, clear editing from Joan Sobel just enhances the experience as well, and makes sure that the movie’s joints are kept supple and flexible. The obsessive attention to detail in every single frame and the fact that it was shot on film really drives it all home. It’s an extremely rare thing t see a movie released in the 2010s that is shot on film, and when we do get that special occasion, it pays off more than digital would have. Otherwise, the score by Abel Korzeniowski is fabulous, a gripping blend of romance, mystery, and uncompromising horror. It perfectly encapsulates the film itself, which takes a romantic drama and smashes it together with a really disturbing thriller with awfully successful results.

Before getting to the issues I had with it (there are very few), we’ve got to give lot’s of credit to both the directing and the performances. Tom Ford directs this white-knuckled pieces of psychological terror with an assured hand behind the camera. He effortlessly blends the aforementioned romance and horror together without repercussions or too many abrupt tonal shifts. This is generally because the scarier part of the story takes place inside the novel, so that clever piece of writing makes it easier for the film to flow more smoothly. Amy Adams, as I mentioned, easily gives the best performance of her career. Imagine her solid performance in Arrival but multiplied infinitely. Her acting skills are fully on display her and it’s wonderful to witness. Jake Gyllenhaal is probably the stand-out for me, however, as he plays dual performances (AGAIN!). One is in the real world as Susan’s ex-husband, and the other is where he gets to show true emotional range as the father in the story. I won’t give away too much, but Michael Shannon also plays a hard-boiled, chain-smoking detective in Edward’s book and he’s fucking insane. Even as a cop this guy seems evil. With his raspy voice, how he so carelessly breaks the law, and his overall loose-cannon attitude, the man is dangerous, and Shannon convinces you.

Wow it’s hard to think of actual, realistic problems with the film. For me, I’d have to say that it wasn’t the most pleasant experience, which although is highly subjective, it’s still a problem for me. It is slow, but I found it mostly entertaining and thrilling (especially that chase sequence on the highway). Finally, as I wrote before, it generally prefers style over true substance, which is very possible to get over. It’s actually comparable to Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon. However, it is a great improvement on that in terms of compelling, fleshed-out and well-written characters. Yeah, that’s literally it.

Nocturnal Animals is truly a masterpiece in its type of cinema. I loved virtually every aspect in it, whether it was the acting, cinematography, sharp editing, and the slowly unraveling mystery that never gives you straight answers. There are a couple nitpicks here and there, but holy crap this was incredible. I highly recommend checking it out as it’s streaming on Netflix now.