Nocturnal Animals

Nocturnal Animals
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tom Ford
Produced by	Tom Ford Robert Salerno
Screenplay by	Tom Ford
Based on	Tony and Susan by Austin Wright
Starring	Amy Adams Jake Gyllenhaal Michael Shannon Aaron Taylor-Johnson Isla Fisher Armie Hammer Laura Linney Andrea Riseborough Michael Sheen
Music by	Abel Korzeniowski
Cinematography	Seamus McGarvey
Edited by	Joan Sobel
Production company	Fade to Black
Distributed by	Focus Features
Release dates	September 2, 2016 (2016-09-02) (Venice) November 18, 2016 (2016-11-18) (United States)
Running time	116 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$22.5 million[2]
Box office	$11 million[3]

Nocturnal Animals is a 2016 American neo-noir psychological thriller film written, co-produced and directed by Tom Ford, based on the 1993 novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright. The film stars Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough and Michael Sheen. Principal photography began on October 5, 2015, in Los Angeles, California.

It was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival,^[4] where it won the Grand Jury Prize.^[5] The film was released in the United States on November 18, 2016, by Focus Features.^[6]

Plot

Three stories are interwoven: Susan in present-day Los Angeles, the events of a novel she's reading, and her reminiscences of her relationship with her first husband, the author of the novel.

Wealthy but troubled art gallery owner Susan Morrow receives a proof copy of a novel penned by her estranged ex-husband Edward Sheffield along with a suggestion they meet for dinner during Edward's upcoming visit to Los Angeles. She is miserable that her husband, Hutton, is uninterested in trying to salvage their deteriorating marriage. He leaves for a weekend business trip to New York City and Susan begins to read the novel, which is both dedicated to her and named Nocturnal Animals after Edward's nickname for her.

The novel follows Tony Hastings, a peaceful man who runs afoul of three local troublemakers – Ray Marcus, Lou and Turk – during a nighttime road trip through Texas with his wife Laura and their teenage daughter India. Forced off the road, Tony is powerless to stop Ray and Turk from driving away with Laura and India. Lou forces him to drive Ray's car to a desolate stretch of land where Lou abandons him. Ray and Turk arrive in search of him, but Tony hides in the underbrush and in the morning makes his way to a nearby farmhouse to telephone for help. Detective Bobby Andes is assigned to the case and he soon locates the bodies of Laura and India near an abandoned shack. They were raped and murdered, and Tony is wracked with guilt.

Shocked by the dark content and raw emotion of the novel, Susan reminisces about her relationship with Edward, from the time before college when she and Edward were each other's first crush to their renewed relationship after college in New York City. She recalls how her domineering mother Anne Sutton objected to her marrying Edward, warning that his romantic and artistic nature will become reasons for Susan to grow frustrated with him, advice Susan ignored. She sends Edward an email accepting his dinner invitation. After learning that Hutton is having an extramarital affair on a business trip to New York City, Susan resumes reading the manuscript.

One year after the murders, Andes contacts Tony and asks him to identify Lou, who is charged as an accomplice in the murders of Laura and India. Turk has been fatally shot in a botched robbery, leaving Ray as the final culprit to be brought to justice. Andes arrests Ray, but is forced to release him because the case against him is based on circumstantial evidence. Andes has been diagnosed with lung cancer and given a year to live. He wants to see Ray punished and has nothing to lose by operating outside the law. He aids Tony in luring Ray and Lou to the shack where Laura and India were killed. When the pair attempt to escape and Tony seems incapable of shooting Lou, Andes shoots him and Lou dies in the dirt outside the shack. Ray manages to run off.

Susan recalls her troubled marriage to Edward, which was strained by her lack of support for his writing career. Edward wants to keep working on their relationship, but she refuses. Supported by Hutton, with whom she is having a relationship, Susan aborts Edward's child.

In the novel, Tony tracks Ray down alone and the two have a violent confrontation, in which Ray admits to raping and murdering Tony's wife and daughter. Tony fatally shoots him, but is blinded by a blow to the head. When he regains consciousness hours later, he stumbles outside and accidentally discharges his gun into his stomach and dies of his wounds.

Susan finishes reading the novel and emails Edward to accept his invitation. Edward responds inviting her to name the time and place, and Susan arranges a rendezvous at a fashionable restaurant. She arrives first and as she nurses cocktails Edward fails to appear.

Cast

Production

On March 24, 2015, it was announced that Smoke House Pictures' partners George Clooney and Grant Heslov would be producing a thriller Nocturnal Animals, based on Austin Wright's 1993 novel Tony and Susan.^[14] Tom Ford was set to direct the film based on his own script.^[14] On the next day, Jake Gyllenhaal was set to star for the lead roles Edward and Tony, while Amy Adams was in talks for the female lead role Susan, and sources confirmed that Joaquin Phoenix and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were also being eyed for different roles.^[7] Focus Features acquired the US distribution rights to the film on May 17, 2015, while Universal Pictures would handle the international distribution.^[15] Focus' deal was made with $20 million, making this a biggest deal of 2015 Cannes Film Festival and one of the biggest in the last few years.^[15] On August 6, 2015, Taylor-Johnson was confirmed for the role of a mysterious person who poses a threat to Gyllenhaal's Tony character's family, along with Michael Shannon also added to the cast to play a detective investigating the violent incident.^[9] On August 28, 2015, Armie Hammer also joined the cast of the film to play Walker Morrow, Adam's character's husband.^[8] On September 9, 2015, Isla Fisher joined the film to play Laura Hastings, Tony's wife.^[10] On September 18, 2015, Ellie Bamber was cast in the film to play Tony's daughter.^[11] On September 30, 2015, Robert Aramayo was added to the cast.^[13] On October 5, 2015, Karl Glusman signed on to star in the film.^[12] On October 8, 2015, Peter Nyong'o was also cast in the film.^[16]

Principal photography on the film began on October 5, 2015, in Los Angeles, California.^[12][17] It wrapped up on December 5, 2015.^[18]

Release

Nocturnal Animals had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2016.^[19][20] The film also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2016^[21] and at the BFI London Film Festival on October 14, 2016.^[22]

The film was released in the United States on November 18, 2016.^[6]

Reception

Box office

As of December 3, 2016, Nocturnal Animals has grossed $2 million in the USA & Canada and $6.8 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $8.8 million.^[3]

Critical response

Nocturnal Animals received generally positive reviews from critics.^[23] On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 73%, based on 154 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Well-acted and lovely to look at, Nocturnal Animals further underscores writer-director Tom Ford's distinctive visual and narrative skill."^[24] On Metacritic the film has a normalized score of 67 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[25]

Owen Gleiberman of Variety praised the film, stating "Tom Ford's first film since A Single Man is another winner" and complemented the performances of Gyllenhaal, Adams, Shannon and Taylor-Johnson.^[26] Steve Pulaski of Influx Magazine gave the film a perfect A+ saying, "Nocturnal Animals is one of the best films of the year. A layered, masterful work of interwoven storylines mixed with crime-drama craft, infused with the same kind of pulsating, West Texas-vibes we saw so beautifully in Hell or High Water, and multilayered storytelling at its finest, the film features gifted actors throwing themselves into performances that require massive versatility between scenes."^[27]

Geoffrey Macnab of the The Independent awarded the film five stars, praising the performances and the direction and stating "Nocturnal Animals is extraordinarily deft in the way it combines romanticism and bleakness. It's a film that easily could have slipped into extreme pretentiousness but it never puts a foot wrong."^[28]

Accolades

References

External links

• Official website
• Nocturnal Animals at the Internet Movie Database
• Nocturnal Animals at Rotten Tomatoes
• Nocturnal Animals at Metacritic