Nightbitchmade waves with its 2024Toronto International Film Festivalpremiere, a horror-comedy about a mother feeling harried by the pressures and double standards for women in modern society — and possibly feeling hairy because she’s turning into a dog.Star and producer Amy Adamsis no stranger to award-worthy work, having received nearly universal critical acclaim with movies such asThe Fighter,The Master,American Hustle, andArrival. She is also an actor with her finger on the pulse of pop culture, a power she’s tapped into time and time again in projects likeEnchantedandMan of Steel.
It should come as no surprise, then, thatNightbitchoffers a fascinating mix of both. Based on Rachel Yoder’s novel of the same name, the movie is written and directed by Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), extrapolating on the supernatural aspects of the story while also focusing on the protagonist’s state of mind. Adams plays Mother, whose happy marriage to Husband (Scoot McNairy) has undergone stress since she quit her job as a painter to devote herself full-time to their son. While Husband travels constantly for work, Mother battles inner demons at home and at baby book club, and outer changes when she finds herself growing more canine by the day.
Nightbitch Review: Amy Adams Goes Absolutely Feral In Comedy About Motherhood & Identity
Nightbitch is very funny, a little gross, & an unforgettable role for Adams, eschewing the tone of the novel for something a little more digestible.
Screen Rant joined several other media outlets on the red carpet forNightbitch’s TIFF premiereand interviewed stars like Amy Adams and Archana Rajan, as well as filmmaker Marielle Heller. The cast and creatives teased the wild side of the movie, and specifically praised Adams' performance and the story’s fascinating layers.
“My husband actually identified with both because we share roles in our household.”
Tell me about getting into the character for this.
Amy Adams: Marielle and I have been talking about it for a really long time. We were deep in quarantine when I brought it to her, and she was the first on my list. I was excited hoping that she would sign on, and she had just had a baby so she identified with the isolation aspect of the story. That was where our conversations [came from] and this idea of isolation and transformation helped me get into this and helped us get into storytelling.
We keep hearing that it’s a comedy for women and a horror movie for men.
Amy Adams: I love it! I guess it depends on the woman, and it depends on the man. I think what I love about this film is that it’s going to speak so specifically to each person in a different way. I think for some, that’s accurate, but my husband actually identified with both because we share roles in our household.
What resonated with you personally?
Amy Adams: One of the things that resonated the most was the idea of transformation, and how we move through transformation at different points in our life, be it through puberty, through marriage and relationships, or through menopause. We’re constantly going through transformations and how that changes us in a very visceral way.
Archana Rajan Reveals That The Title Immediately Sold Her On Nightbitch
“It also said Amy Adams, and if it wasn’t for that, I’d be asking a lot more questions.”
Screen Rant: What was the first thing that stood out to you when you read the script?
Archana Rajan: The title. I got the audition, and it said Nightbitch. It also said Amy Adams, and if it wasn’t for that, I’d be asking a lot more questions. But I saw that she was signed on, and I was like, “Sign me up! Amy Adams, Marielle Heller… Nightbitch, let’s go.”
Screen Rant: Did you get to have a lot of scenes with her? What was that like?
Archana Rajan: I did. All my scenes are with her, and it was such an empowering, woman-filled room with chemistry. It was such an honor to be with her.
Nightbitch Director Marielle Heller Reveals Her Inspiration For The Movie
“Why is everyone doing this better than me? Why am I the only one struggling?”
Your movie has such a strong theme, and it resonates a lot with mothers like myself, but also with a lot of other women. What do you want the takeaway to be from this movie?
Marielle Heller: You don’t have to be a parent to really relate to this story. A lot of us have had the experience of being in long-term relationships or locked in our house with our families or pets. But I am a mother. I have two little kids, and I wanted to reflect my experiences of motherhood, which looked and felt a lot different than the Instagram version of motherhood that I had seen.
I was looking around feeling like, “Why is everyone doing this better than me? Why am I the only one struggling? Why am I the only one who feels like this is so crazy and difficult?” And I wanted to make people feel less alone if they were in that moment in their life. I also wanted to give people more compassion toward the people in their lives who might be in that major life transformation, where they’re looking at themselves going like, “I don’t even know who I am anymore. I feel like a cow. I’m just milking a baby, and I don’t even have my own identity anymore. What happened to my life?”
Why did you go with the choice of her literally converting into a dog?
Marielle Heller: There was something that just felt right about that. I have this memory of having my son, when he was first born, and I was feeling this animal instinct to protect him. That I could, if someone came after him, just rip them to shreds. It just felt right, emotionally. It’s not up here [points to head], it’s in here [points to heart].
Source:Screen Rant Plus
More About Nightbitch (2024)
An overworked stay-at-home mom (Amy Adams) tries to catch a break, any break, while caring for her rambunctious toddler. Also, she might be turning into a dog.
Check out our other TIFF 2024 interviews here:
Nightbitchpremiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7 and will be released by Searchlight Pictures in theaters on December 6.
Nightbitch
Cast
A suburban mother struggles with the isolation of stay-at-home life while raising her young son. As she begins to embrace her primal instincts, she experiences strange transformations, leading her to question whether she’s losing her mind or becoming something altogether different—something feral and dangerous.
