★★★½

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

Written by Dalton Welsh - August 18, 2020

American fashion designer turned film director Tom Ford if for nothing else must be commended for bringing a more artistic and unorthodox film to mainstream audiences in his sophomore effort “Nocturnal Animals”. With some heavy hitters in the cast including Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, and Isla Fisher it has hopefully drawn people into a film going experience that is slightly more experimental. The film follows Susan (Amy Adams) who receives a manuscript of her ex-husband Edward's (Jake Gyllenhaal) new novel and finds it very compelling. To the point where it forces her to question her personal and marital choices. While there are several aspects to praise including the intriguing storytelling, moments of exquisite cinematography and best of all the performances. The film unfortunately falls short in some areas, most noticeably the distractingly poor editing choices.

Let’s get the editing out of the way first, there is a feeling with a lot of the shots that they should have been given more time to breath, even just a few seconds in some cases. The lack of time spent on the shots making many of them feel like they have been abruptly cut. Perhaps this is intentional by the editor to impart an off-kilter energy to the flow of the film, if that were so I found it ineffective at communicating a tone or energy, with the editing choice acting more as a distraction from the films positive attributes. With frequent effective uses of tension throughout the film, it would have gone a long way if they allowed the shots to linger just a little bit longer to further build that aura of suspense and not be so unnecessarily frenetic.

However, on a more positive note perhaps the greatest element in the film’s favour is the stellar performances on display. As per usual Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal both display a deep understanding of their characters and add another role to their respectively stellar resume. But it is in the supporting roles where the acting truly shines, specifically Michael Shannon and an uncharacteristically maniacal Aaron Taylor Johnson. Shannon’s performance of the wearied detective Bobby Andes communicates so much about who he is as a character, despite the small amount of screen time he has. His unorthodox mannerisms and speaking patterns both display a character that has been affected by his emotionally draining line of work and gives a unique energy to Andes that makes him enjoyable to watch every time he’s on screen. Then there is Aaron Taylor Johnson as the depraved Ray Marcus who rides a fine line of theatric villainy in his performance that manages to steer clear of being cheesy. His presence on screen always fills you with anxiety as you’re never quite sure just what he’s about to do.

The film also has the benefit of having an engaging and unique story. The way that we see elements from the relationship between our lead Susan and her ex-husband appear in his book, while at times lacking subtlety, is an interesting way to unravel and provide more time to the problems that arouse in their relationship. At its core the film seems to be about genuinity, with our protagonist who began her career as an artist because of her passion for it is now part of a circle of elites who surround themselves with art merely to aid their social status. This draining of emotion from her manner of creative expression is mirrored in her loveless relationship with her current husband, in contrast to the intensity and emotion of her ex-husband’s novel. The subsequent emotion she experiences from the lack of energy in her current life, the regret she has at the falling out she had with her ex-husband and the hole in her life that she realises he can fill make for some truly captivating drama.

As far as cinematography goes while for the most part it does not do anything overly exciting with it there are some sporadic moments of well composed scenery. Some of the shots look like something you could frame and put on a wall with the use of colour framing and lighting, but these are unfortunately few and far between. The use of colour in the film is effective however as the frequent use of deep reds makes the cinematography more dynamic and surrounds moments of the film with a feeling of toxic love. Additionally, the choice to provide different lighting from the scenes that take place in the book to the real world helps to further distinguish these scenes and makes the story more clear for the audience which is a nice touch. And just briefly, the films score while at times a little overdramatic for some of its scenes, also works well as a companion to film, with the strings adding to the thriller nature of the film and along with the contents of the film gives it an almost David Lynchian quality.

Ultimately, despite the film sorely lacking in its editing and some inconsistency in its music and cinematography its positives still outweigh its negatives. With some fantastic performances, particularly from the supporting cast of Shannon’s unorthodox detective Andes and Johnson’s unkempt and nefarious Ray Marcus. An engaging, well realised story about the vapidness of art, and its interdependent thematic lesson of the importance of genuinity in our relationships to help us get through the dark cold world we live in. With some room for improvement, Tom Ford has clearly shown competence as a filmmaker and storyteller and I look forward to seeing him grow as an artist in his projects to come.