Marielle Heller's ‘Nightbitch' Screens Again ...

UPDATE: Here’s another reaction for “Nightbitch.” This one stemming, possibly, from a sales screening in Brazil. I’ve slightly edited the review because of translation hiccups, but you’ll, more or less, get a good picture about what might be in store for us with this, supposedly, batsh*t crazy movie:

It's been a while since I saw it — back in January […] What surprised me the most about this film wasn't Amy [Adams], because I expect great work from her, but, rather, it was Heller, I didn't expect to see her directing a film like this, I'm really curious about how reviews will turn out for the film. Heller is known to direct crowd-pleasing films that don’t necessarily take risks. However, it’s very different here. A woman quite literally believes she’s turning into a dog, and in a way this film has a lot to do with motherhood. The film grabbed my attention from the very first scene. Adams made it very easy to keep us in her grasp. A lot of humor is used by Heller. It felt like one of Elena Ferrante’s unfinished novels adapted by Lars Von Trier, and that’s music to my ears. The indecency and immoral nature of the script make the film more fun and more interesting. The mix between light horror and comedy. But what makes this film great is Heller’s audacity. It’s about a woman who is greatly suffering from abandonment and pain at a time when she should be in love with life. It’s beautiful to see Adams in a movie like this.

EARLIER: A marked absence at last year’s fall fests was Marielle Heller’s “Nightbitch,” starring Amy Adams. What’s been even murkier are Searchlight's release plans for the film. Three years ago, they spent $25 million in a competitive bidding war for the film and it then completely disappeared from our radar.

Now we’re hearing, via THR, that Searchlight has set up a December 6, 2024 release for “Nightbitch.” Last year, there had been some rumblings about a straight-to-Hulu debut. Regardless, it does sound like the kind of idiosyncratic film that deserves to be seen, but is it any good?

“Nightbitch” test-screened in March 2023. The two reactions I had received were polar opposites:

Reaction #1:

I liked it a lot. Surreal feminist fable that somehow worked. Not sure how to describe this movie, other than despite the outrageous concept I found it had a lot of insight about motherhood and shattered the preconceptions we might have about it. Amy Adams kind of owns this movie. It doesn’t strike me as an “Oscar movie,” but neither did EEAAO. Definitely veers into genre territory.

Reaction #2:

I’m still not sure why someone decided to make this movie. I love Amy Adams and she’s great as always here but it’s super strange just for the sake of being strange. Some odd storytelling and unnecessary subplots. She literally feels and turns into a dog and it’s supposed to tell us something about motherhood. It’s also a very ugly movie to look at.

Back in July of 2020, Annapurna Pictures won an auction and landed the rights to Rachel Yoder’s debut novel, “Nightbitch”. Searchlight acquired the film from floundering Annapurna, Heller was then announced as the writer-director.

The film’s plot is total dark absurdism. A neo-horror thriller starring Adams as an overworked woman who is convinced she's, quite literally, turning into a dog.

Here’s a more descriptive plot synopsis:

Exposing the absurd and feral truths of motherhood, Nightbitch is a darkly comedic telling of an unnamed woman and former artist, thrust into stay-at-home domesticity after the birth of her son, who becomes increasingly worried and convinced that she may be turning into a dog.

Heller’s debut was Sundance sensation “The Diary of a Teenage Girl.” This was followed by the critically-acclaimed “Can You Ever Forgive Me.” She then dabbled into mainstream filmmaking with the mostly-enjoyable “A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood.”