TIFF Review: Amy Adams is One Hell of a Mother in ‘Nightbitch’

It’s not easy being a mother. Those who haven’t given birth to a child really can’t relate to that experience and the maternal bond that is unmatched by anything else. Society, progressive as it may seem, also doesn’t afford quite as much understanding as people would like to believe for taking time off and making other accommodations to a new way of life. Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch, based on the 2021 novel of the same name by Rachel Yoder, amplifies the unique feeling of being a mother with a decidedly supernatural twist.

Mother (Amy Adams) isn’t feeling her best. She spends every waking moment tending to the needs of her two-year-old (Arleigh Patrick Snowden and Emmett James Snowden). She’s abandoned her painting career while her husband (Scoot McNairy) leaves on frequent multi-day road trips and she’s forced to figure out a way to get her son to sleep after entertaining him for the whole day. She notices hair growing in unexpected places and other curious developments, and memories of her own mother begin to convince her that she’s turning into a dog.

This film’s title comes from how Mother describes herself when her husband checks in about her snapping at him in the middle of the night when he didn’t do anything to help their son who had woken up and expected her to take care of him. It’s a provocative double entendre, one that certainly speaks to how many are quick to judge mothers for harsh reactions they deem hormonal and unprovoked. This film, however, shines a true spotlight on the emotional burden and toll of feeling as if you are solely responsible for everything, illustrated best by Father’s attempts to help out, which involves three separate instances of calling out for Mother to help him with something while she’s trying to get just a few minutes of desperately-needed rest.

The concept of Mother turning into a dog is perhaps a metaphor for how animalistic behavior is excused when it’s an animal doing it, but there are plenty of other factors on which to blame human reactions that aren’t deemed levelheaded or grounded. Mother feels much freer when she thinks of herself as an animal, and even finds a way to get her son to be more cooperative, tucking him into his dog bed at night before he falls asleep right away. Some of those visuals, like the two of them eating out of dog bowls, are certainly jarring, but this film is meant to be provocative in a productive and thoughtful way.

This film is, above all, a vehicle for Adams, who turns in a bare and unfiltered performance. It’s very much unlike so many of the characters she’s played before, absent the gentle sweetness that so many of them put on so that others around her will respond in kind. She’s tried hard enough and is barely holding on, and she has little patience both for her husband and for the other mothers she meets at activities for her child, and she just needs to do what she believes will be best to get through each day. Adams engages well with the physical and comedic aspects of the role, making Mother a film-defining and very memorable character.

What’s most interesting about this film, whose title and premise is sure to scare off large swathes of potential audiences, is that Mother turning into a dog is only a minor plot point. While she does try to research the phenomenon by taking a book out of the library and Googling symptoms, it’s much more about how she comes to terms with herself as a mother and as an individual, a journey that’s not easy but is ultimately quite fulfilling. Heller, no stranger to playing complicated mothers herself, has a strong guiding hand as writer and director, and she and Adams make a great team for a film that’s not nearly as weird or edgy as most will expect.

Movie Rating: 7/10

Awards Buzz: Adams is a six-time Emmy nominee, and it’s been six years since her last mention, for Vice. While the film might not catch on as strongly, Adams is sure to be in the awards conversation for a film that has her doing something very different and succeeding wildly.