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This review was originally published on September 8, 2024 out of the Toronto International Film Festival.
We are recirculating it now timed toNightbitchs theatrical release.
Marielle Hellers evocatively titlednew filmNightbitchunfolds at times like an essay film.
Adams narrates her transformation with alternating omniscience and doubt.
And then sometimes she wonders aloud if maybe shes a terrible mother for worrying about any of this.
You stoke it and tend it.
You protect it at all costs…You keep it secret.
You let it burn.
This isnt a tract against motherhood, however.
Again, Adams brings that right mix of tenderness and annoyance, between holy wonderment and existential boredom.
Maybe metaphorical is the wrong word.
This overarching meditative quality ofNightbitchis at once its most intriguing element and its greatest shortcoming.
Basically, theres no real story here.
Which wouldnt be a problem if the film didnt keep trying to give us one.
Its an interesting idea, but we dont see much of these people.
Again, he seems more like a Point than a character.
Again, none of these things would be a problem if the movie fully embraced its own abstraction.
So the movie goes in circles, constantly expounding on the same things.
It has lots of insight, but little momentum.
Then again, maybe thats the idea.
