Nocturnal Animals - 2016 film review

Nocturnal Animals is a film written, produced, and directed by Tom Ford and it boasts a fine cast. I was drawn to it because it's a 'story within a story' movie and that's a form of considerable interest to me at present. The script is based on a novel from 1993, Tony and Susan, by Austin Wright. I must admit I'd never heard of book or author but apparently it became a big success after publishers initially expressed reservations, although Wright died before the film version was made.

This is sad, because even though I gather the screenplay differs greatly from the book, it's well-written, with consistent pace - not something that's easy to achieve with this kind of material. And in some ways the sophistication of the storytelling obscures the fact that the central story is pretty straightforward - and I don't say that as a criticism. 

From the weird (very weird) opening images to the low-key, and some might think anti-climactic, final scene, this was a film that held my attention. The lead character is Susan Morrow (played by Amy Adams, who is good as usual). She's very rich but very shallow and the same is true of her husband (Arnie Hammer). Soon it becomes clear that, despite the surface glitter, all is not well in their lives.

Susan receives a manuscript called Nocturnal Animals from her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal, who is at his best in this film) and she begins to read it. We learn that their marriage failed because he was a romantic, creative individual and she was highly materialistic - like her mother (played by Laura Linney, who makes a big impact in a single scene) who had no time for Edward. 

Edward's story is about a couple who are driving with their young daughter in Texas one night when their car is rammed by a car driven by three wild and aggressive men. As things begin to turn very nasty, it dawns on Susan that Edward is really writing about himself - the husband is again played by Jake Gyllenhaal. But what exactly is going on? There's a brilliant performance by Michael Shannon, playing a detective with lung cancer, and the supporting cast includes such stars as Andrea Riseborough, Michael Sheen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. This is a sometimes deeply uncomfortable film, but I thought it was powerful and compelling.