Nocturnal Animals (2016) 'Mashup' Review: A Hypnotic Fever Dream

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“Enjoy the absurdity of our world. It’s a lot less painful. Believe me, our world is a lot less painful than the real world.”

Review by Kalpit Tandon

The erotically charged red sofa lying against the barren deserts of West Texas, a lost champagne glass clicking against every other in uppity rich parties, a motor car cruising along the roads to nowhere, the kind of sad blue eyes that seduces and a nasty betrayal that brings the best in its victim. Tom Ford has created a wizardry of aesthetics and allowed the narrative to fit in ever so seamlessly, like a river to an ocean.

Susan Morrow is practically walking over the broken, pointed pieces of her relationships. She reminisces about her past as the newfound love turned out to be just another smooth-talking charmer from the posh remains of her generation. In the midst of it all, she receives a transcript from her ex-husband containing a fictional novel from which she can somehow draw parallels to reality, as things start to spiral out of control. Lies, deceits, lust, and capitalism, all shaken in a pitiful flask of artificiality, consume her entire world.

Balancing multiple timelines while skillfully playing with varied color tones, Tom Ford presents a package worthy of an art show. He plays around with frames, assembles scenes as a perfectionist, and injects tones with the elan of a mad practitioner at work. Though it may prove off-putting to some, the excessive detailing works wonders as he had left drops of symbolism in numerous scenes for viewers to catch hold of the complete charade way before the narratives merge. He is aided tremendously by an outstanding spot on casting. Amy Adams is a walking painting, Michael Shannon is devilishly breathtaking, Jake Gyllenhaal is a notch above his usual best, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson is magnetically wicked.

Nocturnal Animals is a fever dream of complex human emotions ranging from passionate desires to deeply rooted regrets. It’s a drug that prolongs the pain, a mirror that reflects nothing when stared at, a battle where there can never be a victor. It is a dash of hypnotic colors and haunting ambiance, fused with ever-present chaos, smiling slyly at all that is black within our easily corruptible souls.

Review by Rupam Mozumder

Nocturnal Animals is the second film of designer cum director Tom Ford after his fantastic 2009 drama, A Single Man. It starts in the weirdest way possible as some naked overweight women dance in front of a bright red background, which appears like a stage. I’m still unsure about the significance of the whole scene and why it looked so disturbing or weird. Is it because they’re obese or unashamedly naked? Both imply our own perception of the stellar sequence directed by Tom Ford.

From the initial moment when these women stepped on stage, we were quite sure it was not real as they were happily dancing. Now, have you ever seen an overweight woman grooving unapologetically without thinking about who’s looking at her? By the time the scene closes, we come to know that the entire thing was nothing but a mere art exhibit. So, in conclusion, is art all about weirdly showcasing the unreal things?

Here we meet Susan…The complete charade turns out to be her artwork, and from here on, we follow her footsteps into her world.

Nocturnal Animals tells two stories. One is based on the real world, and the other is a fiction. The film within a film concept is nothing new, but Tom Ford’s take on this style here is utterly scrumptious. In the real world, the protagonist is Susan, married to a good-looking, wealthy man who doesn’t have time for his own wife and her work. Susan’s world is no different from the world of many rich people we know, which shines from the outside but actually is dark and lonely from the inside. She gets a manuscript from her ex-husband of his latest novel, which he named ‘Nocturnal Animals’ and has dedicated to Susan, who is suffering from insomnia.

Through that novel, we get into the fictitious world of Tony, who was on a road trip with his wife and daughter, and gets into trouble with three local guys. The novel is violent, deeply engrossing, and more importantly, about a weak man who seeks revenge. Why is this more important? Well, maybe because it digs into Susan’s history with his ex husband, who believed that ‘nobody writes about anything but themselves‘. So is it really a fiction or just a different kind of version of something horrible from their past?

Coming to the performances… Amy Adams has given yet another sensational performance here. Her eyes expressed a lot more than her dialogue did. But it was Jake Gyllenhaal as both Edward and Tony who made the film for me. Jake played both characters with perfection. Actually, it’s the screenplay that makes Tony/Edward superior to Susan in many ways. As the film goes on, we come to realize that it’s only about hurting Susan more and more in the name of revenge, in a way that looks sweet but is actually the ugliest. Except for the character of Andes, played brilliantly by Michael Shannon, no other character is as noticeable as the two leads.

Nocturnal Animals looks beautiful from the outside. It has bright colors, beautiful sets, good-looking actors, visually attractive cinematography, but when we get into the core, it’s dark, cruel, and extremely ugly. The climax is as weird as the first sequence, but it helps you to remember the film, which, in my opinion, was absolutely the right thing to do.

Tom Ford’s writing is as good as his direction. The film is so beautifully composed and written that it reminds you of both classic Hitchcockian thrillers and Refn’s dynamic visuals. It’s a film that stays with you long after the credits and lures you to watch it once more.