"Nocturnal Animals" is brilliant

Man, this one is definitely gonna stick with me for a while. Didn't really know much about it other than the fact that it was one of those "story within a story" narratives. But Jake Gylenhaal, Amy Adams and Michael Shannon = must watch.

Really found it to be an excellent piece of cinema. "Enjoyable" is probably the wrong word because it's a thoroughly unnerving and bleak experience but it really was quite powerful. I loved the contrast of the world of the novel, which felt grimy, raw and real, and Susan's "real" world, which had this strange artificial, fake vibe to it. It's a brilliant callback to when Susan claims that she's a pragmatic and cynical realist, while Edward is the hopeless romantic with his head in the clouds. Their messy breakup turns them into completely different people than who they thought they were - just really well done storytelling.

Special shout-out to that opening scene of the novel on the highway - holy shit, that was nerve-wracking and hard to watch. One of the tensest scenes I've seen in a while and totally made me forget that it's "fictional" in the world of the movie. In fact, the novel story was considerably more interesting than the "real" one - which I suppose was probably the point, showing how, for as much of a fancy, stylish life that Susan wanted, her existence is rather mundane and miserable.

Acting was fantastic all around. Amy Adams surprisingly wasn't as prominent as I thought she would be, given that she's the top billed actress but she was still great. Jake and Michael Shannon are excellent, as per usual, as is Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Never thought he could pull off a disgusting psychopath character so well.

Really well-done from a technical perspective as well, with some excellent cinematography and a beautiful soundtrack.

It won't be a movie that'll appeal to everyone - it's a bit too dark and intense for that (and that opening credits scene though lol) - but for anyone interested in psychological thrillers, it's a must-watch.

Submitted September 27, 2020 at 01:22PM by fabrar https://ift.tt/2G1PBCU